Michigan PSC Releases $25 Million
The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on February 21 awarded seven organizations $25 million in grants to help low-income utility customers with their bills. The grants come from the Low-Income and Energy Assistance Fund and were issued less than a month after the MPSC released an accelerated Request for Proposals on January 31.
Most of the money was awarded to the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS), the LIHEAP grantee. Of the $20 million DHS received, $15 million will be spent under the State Emergency Relief and Energy Direct program to prevent threatened shutoff of energy services, and $5 million for the Arrearage Payment program.
Other recipients included:
- Michigan Community Action Association: $1,500,000 in total – $1.3 million for low-income direct energy assistance, and $200,000 to provide a two-to-one match for funds raised locally through the Walk for Warmth project.
- The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW): $1,500,000 for the THAW’s Low Income/Energy Efficiency program.
- Salvation Army: $1,500,000 to serve households statewide ineligible for assistance from DHS or for whom such assistance is insufficient or not available.
- Downriver Community Conference: $200,000 for energy assistance to low-income households in the Monroe and southern Wayne County areas.
- Lighthouse Emergency Services: $100,000 to assist clients in the City of Pontiac and Oakland County areas who are ineligible for assistance from the DHS or for whom such assistance is insufficient or would not be provided in time to avert an emergency.
- Newaygo County: $200,000 to assist clients in a 10-county area ineligible for the State Emergency Relief Program or for whom such assistance is insufficient or would not be available in time to avert an emergency.
Source: MPSC
Page Last Updated: September 24, 2009
