U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday requesting additional funding for the Hidalgo County Community Service Agency, funding designed to help low-income families incur rising energy costs.
The letter, which was addressed to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Secretary Jennifer Granholm of the U.S. Department of Energy, comes two days after it was announced that the Hidalgo County CSA exhausted all funding and is no longer accepting applications for the Low-Income Housing Energy Assistance Program for the 2022 program year.
“I write this letter to express my concern regarding significant increases in energy prices affecting my constituents in Texas’ 34th Congressional District,” Flores said in the letter. “Given this Administration’s disastrous policies regarding domestic energy production, we are seeing unprecedented increases in consumer utility costs.”
Flores went on to say that those rising costs have resulted in an increase in requests for assistance through LIHEAP from low-income families.
“This is especially true in Hidalgo County, Texas, where the Community Service Agency (CSA) announced earlier this week that it had expended all funds under LIHEAP for 2022,” Flores wrote. “This means nearly 2,900 unprocessed applications will not be eligible for funding this calendar year, not considering any additional anticipated applications or need — this is simply not acceptable.”
According to a news release, the Hidalgo County CSA received just over $6 million from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to assist residents with the high energy costs, including electricity and natural gas for their homes.
Energy assistance applications close for Hidalgo County low-income families | MyRGV.com
Over 6,000 Hidalgo County families have received assistance under LIHEAP.
“The guidelines of this program are designed to meet the needs of about 6-8% of the eligible families that apply. The need in our county, as in other counties, is far greater than the eligible resources,” Jaime Longoria, executive director of the Hidalgo County Community Service Agency, said in the news release. “Due to lack of funds, CSA will no longer accept applications for the Low-Income Housing Energy Assistance Program.”
According to that same news release, the CSA will still process completed applications received before Tuesday, using alternative funds to assist eligible families.
“Given your position as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, I strongly urge the Department to make additional funding available for the LIHEAP program in Hidalgo County to ensure the needs of citizens are met through 2022, and to consider an increase in 2023 given current circumstances,” Flores said.
She requested a reply by Oct. 10.
