Press Release  AG’s Office Opens Application Period for Grant Program to Help Residents Pay Their Heating Bills

BOSTON — Attorney General Maura Healey today announced her office has opened the application period for the second year of her office’s grant program to help Massachusetts residents pay or lower their monthly heating bills.

“Each winter, tens of thousands of families across our state struggle to pay their heating bills,” AG Healey said. “This grant program will reach residents who aren’t already receiving assistance and make sure they have the financial support they need to stay warm during the cold months.”

This year, the Natural Gas Fuel Assistance Grant Program will provide approximately $1.4 million in additional funding to programs that assist Massachusetts households in paying for their natural gas service. Approximately one in four low-income eligible households in the state receive assistance on their heating bills.

The grant program is open to programs run through state agencies, municipalities, charitable organizations, and nonprofit organizations. Eligible programs may include those that are providing direct assistance to consumers by subsidizing their natural gas heating bills or are providing indirect assistance to residents by supporting energy-efficiency measures designed to lower their natural gas heating bills.  

The AG’s Office is especially interested in proposals for programs that will provide funding to families who otherwise would not be receiving fuel assistance, or who are not receiving sufficient help in paying their monthly heating bills. As part of the evaluation process, the AG’s Office will consider the applicant’s history of providing heat assistance services, the applicant’s proposed services, the demographics of the households targeted by the applicant’s proposal, and the geographic diversity of applicant’s intended beneficiaries. 

This is the second year of the Natural Gas Fuel Assistance Grant Program, which utilizes funds from a settlement the AG’s Office reached with National Grid for improperly charging its customers reconnection service fees.

As the ratepayer advocate for Massachusetts, AG Healey works to ensure that consumers do not pay more than they should for their natural gas

The two-year grant program will start on Nov. 1, 2019 and will end on Oct. 31, 2021. Interested applicants can visit the AG’s website, www.mass.gov/ago/grants for more information and for application instructions. Questions about the grant program can be submitted by email to AGOGrants@state.ma.us by 5 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2019. Applications must be received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 11, 2019.

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