By the Numbers: Low-Income Energy Assistance

This RMI fact sheet analyzes the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the United States, concluding that federal funding is insufficient to cover the energy costs of all eligible low-income families and that significant numbers of eligible households remain unserved due to barriers like lack of awareness and complex application procedures.

• Low-income families in the United States spend an average of three times more of their annual income on energy costs compared to non-low income families.
• RMI's analysis of historical data indicates that current federal funding for energy assistance is grossly inadequate, requiring an increase of 10 to 20 times the 2021 levels to cover the energy costs of all eligible low-income families.
• Many eligible families do not access LIHEAP funds due to language barriers, lack of awareness, confusion over rules, and fears regarding immigration status or the requirement to repay funds. In 2021, California and Texas had the highest number of unserved eligible families, with 3.27 million and 2.44 million respectively.
• New federal legislation, including the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides several funding streams to combat energy poverty, including $3.5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), $3.16 billion for residential energy retrofitting, and $837.5 million for affordable housing energy efficiency, water efficiency, or climate resilience.

APA

RMI (2022). By the Numbers: Low-Income Energy Assistance. https://rmi.org/resources/by-the-numbers-low-income-energy-assistance/

Chicago

RMI. By the Numbers: Low-Income Energy Assistance. 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/by-the-numbers-low-income-energy-assistance/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=By the Numbers: Low-Income Energy Assistance |date=22 August 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/by-the-numbers-low-income-energy-assistance/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2022numbers, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{By the Numbers: Low-Income Energy Assistance}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = aug, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/by-the-numbers-low-income-energy-assistance/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }