MONTPELIER, Vt. — Low prices and expected warmer weather in northern New England are combining to produce a more favorable outlook for the federal heating assistance program.

Heading into winter, Congress has already made its appropriation for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and officials in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire know what they are going to receive. Vermont is getting about $17.2 million, Maine $35.3 million and New Hampshire $23.2 million.

An improving economy means Vermont is likely to see fewer applicants this year, helping matters even more, said the official who oversees the program there.

“I cannot remember a year where everything was projected to look as smooth as it does for this year,” said Richard Moffi, the fuel assistance program chief in the Vermont Department for Children and Families. “All the variables for the first time in a long time are going in a positive direction.”

Across the region, lower fuel prices will mean more bang for every buck.

“They’ll have more buying power with their benefit,” said Deborah Turcotte from the Maine State Housing Authority, which manages the program and distributes the money. “The benefit will stretch further.”

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The three states are expected to get 90 percent of the benefit up front, followed by the remainder in February.

Unlike previous years when there was uncertainty about when the states would receive the money, Moffi said Vermont fuel dealers supplying customers who use the fuel assistance program can expect to be paid on behalf of those clients in November.

And while the decrease in the number of clients seeking fuel assistance in Vermont is small, it’s another bit of good news. Last year, the number of Vermont recipients in the program dropped by about 400. Moffi expects a similar drop this year.

“These are not the glory days of the United States and the Vermont economy: We always have folks come to the program … when they are struggling,” Moffi said.

“And the moment things get better, the moment they got those overtime hours back or get a second job they might have lost, they go right off the program.”


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