As access to the federal Home Energy Assistance Program is stuck in limbo with the federal government in shutdown, local officials are trying to figure out how to keep low-income residents warm this winter.

The program is supported by federal grants and administered by the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. It helps low-income families throughout the region pay for the cost of heating their homes.

Applications for the program have been delayed for the duration of the shutdown, as have the release of benefits, which were expected to go out Nov. 17.

Communities

Schenectady County provided HEAP benefits to 12,332 households last winter, totaling more than $4.2 million, according to Erin Laiacona, a spokesperson for the county.

The county’s Department of Social Services is working closely with local nonprofit organizations and other community partners to connect residents in need of home heating assistance to services, Laiacona said.

A similar situation is playing out in Saratoga County, where around 3,400 households per month received HEAP benefits last year, according to Patrick Maxwell, the county’s commissioner of social services.

Maxwell said those struggling to heat their home should contact the county’s temporary assistance unit. From there, the individual’s situation is assessed and services may be provided through a different county-run program, depending on criteria.

Saratoga County doled out $7.4 million in HEAP funding last year, Maxwell said.

And more than 14,000 homes out of nearly 42,000 in Fulton and Montgomery counties received HEAP aid last winter, data shows from the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. That’s one household in three.

Together, that aid cost more than $8 million.

In the absence of HEAP, only one nonprofit organization in the two counties offers anything like an emergency cash benefit to pay for heat. Catholic Charities of Fulton Montgomery’s emergency assistance program offers up to $250 once a year to pay for a variety of emergencies, including utilities at risk of being shut off.

The organization’s website states applicants must have a denial letter from the Department of Social Services and picture identification, plus a disconnect notice from the utility and the most recent bill in the applicant’s name, according to the organization’s website.

Catholic Charities of Fulton Montgomery has an emergency assistance fund, but it isn’t necessarily for heat, Executive Director Michael Finocchi said. Its specific program is a partnership with National Grid.

“They support us, and we help individuals,” Finocchi said.

The assistance might defray a bill and avoid utilities being shut off, but it’s not likely to be able to pay the full bill.

How far does $250 go toward heat?

“Not, too, awfully far,” said Anne Solar, Fulton County’s social services commissioner.

It’s not enough for the minimum delivery of heating oil or propane, major heating sources in rural communities with no natural gas infrastructure.

Unlike food aid, which is funded by the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — also under threat during the federal shutdown — heating aid can’t be helped with relatively small infusions of cash in a family’s bank account, Solar said.

The loss of SNAP complicates already difficult lives, Finocchi said. Families need to pay more for food, which means they have less to pay for heat.

“Now they’re starting to make hard decisions,” he said.

That’s where agencies need to think outside of the box, Finocchi said. Catholic Charities operates, for example, a Medicaid waiver program, where qualifying people might get assistance with rent, groceries — or heat.

“There’s ways of doing things and getting around things,” he said. “The last thing you want is an elderly person who gets shut off, or a single parent with kids. It breaks your heart.”

“This is hard for people,” Solar said. “There are not a lot of options.”

“We are getting a few people asking, but we can’t even hand out applications,” she added.

The fall has been mild, and she expects more requests as November rolls into December. State data show the bulk of emergency heating spending comes later in the season, January and February.

Brian Weakley can’t even do that. The energy services director at Fulmont Community Action Agency in Fonda has a heating assistance program, but it doesn’t involve emergency funds.

“We’re trying to lower heating bills,” he said, not by paying them, but by providing weatherization services, such as insulation, furnace repair or replacement, weather-stripping and minor repairs.

He already has a waiting list at least 50 applicants long.

“In a perfect world, it could be a month and a half to get a new furnace,” Weakley said.

And the delay in HEAP?

“It really puts a bind on things. Once it starts getting cold, they start coming in, instead of June.”

The Montgomery County Department of Social Services is referring people who need help with heat to food banks, Commissioner Matt Becker said. The idea is that if people can reduce their grocery costs, the spare money can be diverted to heat.

“It’s the best we can do right now,” Becker said. “You put your finger in one hole and you have to address the other.”

Weather

The National Weather Service expects a 40% to 50% chance of milder temperatures in November, and a 35% to 40% chance of milder temperatures in December. That’s because of a La Niña cycle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said will continue into 2026.

However, “milder” is a relative term. The mean low temperature in November in Gloversville is 25 degrees Fahrenheit, dropping to 16 in December. It’s slightly warmer in Saratoga Springs, with a mean low temperature of 31 degrees in November and 29 in December.

Either is enough to freeze heating pipes, if the home stays without heat long........

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