$232,505 to help low-income families with CUC bills

Low-income families in the Marianas can get help with their Commonwealth Utilities Corp. bills using $232,505 in grants awarded to the CNMI on Tuesday, according to Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) over the weekend.

Sablan disclosed in his e-kilili newsletter that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced the release of Low-Income Home Energy Assistant Program funds, which includes the annual block grant and additional money from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or U.S. Public Law 117-56.

The delegate cited the LIHEAP funding is an opportunity to improve funding for the CNMI early in his congressional career. In 2013, he said, they were able to increase the LIHEAP funding for the Commonwealth and other insular areas by 400%.

LIHEAP money helps pay monthly CUC bills and assists families with weatherization and other home repairs that save energy costs. In recent years, families received up to $58 in monthly assistance from the program. Over 400 households in the CNMI typically benefit from LIHEAP.

“We are not alone in the pain of high energy costs,” said Sablan, adding that some 25 million U.S. households face the impossibly difficult choice between food and medicines or paying for energy.