El Paso families could benefit from federal program to help lower heating costs

EL PASO, Texas -- Earlier this week the Biden administration announced they are distributing $4.5 billion in federal assistance to help Americans lower their heating bills this winter.

The funds are from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

LIHEAP funds are distributed to low-income families and help make home repairs to lower their utility bills.

An official at Project Bravo told ABC-7, El Paso County received around $1.2 million in these funds last year. That money helped around 80 to 100 households weatherize their homes.

Laura Ponce, the executive director of Project Bravo, said these funds have multiple functions. However, the funds that El Paso receives mostly help with weatherization of homes.

Weatherization is the science of making a home more energy efficient.

"We use these funds that are designated for weatherization to go into the home and make a very thorough assessment, see where there is opportunities for the home to be more energy efficient," she said.

Ponce said this is lengthy, but beneficial process.

A full assessment takes about 5 hours to complete. During that assessment, measurements are taken, the attic is inspected, the walls are also checked to see if there is enough insulation.

"With the pandemic we definitely had a big increase in the number of households needing utility assistance because they couldn’t afford them. We know the cost of utilities is affecting families and that affects the ability to meet their household needs," she said.

Ponce said these funds are not first come first served. Instead, the household must be low income.

Another factor that is considered is whether there is vulnerable people living in the home.

As for when the help is provided, Ponce said it could be anywhere between three months to three years.

Project Bravo is currently working on an interest list. Those who are interested can provide their contact information to Project Bravo. Those who are eligble will be notified when the funds are dispersed.