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• The Guardian
• Sun Nov 9 2025

As the stalemate over government funding and healthcare benefits continues, winter is approaching ? but federal heating assistance, blocked by the shutdown, isn?t arriving in time. Millions of American families are about to face an impossible choice: heating their homes or putting food on the table. As the senator for a state known for its volatile winters and as executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, we call on states and utilities to choose a different outcome for those families and shut off the shutoffs. A nationwide freeze on utilities? ability to disconnect customers from heat for nonpayment isn?t about politics ? it?s about public safety.

The breakdown in federal budget negotiations has frozen the release of funding for many of the essential services families rely on nationwide, including the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (Liheap). Liheap helps struggling households keep their heat and lights on by helping eligible families pay their utility bills. With those dollars locked up in Washington gridlock, America?s seniors and working families are now at risk of losing power ? just as temperatures start to plummet.

That?s why we?re calling on electric and gas utilities across the country to immediately suspend shutoffs for nonpayment until Liheap funds are released. This isn?t unprecedented: during the early months of the Covid pandemic, we called on utilities to stop shutoff for nonpayment due to the nature of the crisis, and many states and utilities did voluntarily pause disconnections to protect public health. Many states already have a regular practice of pausing disconnections during cold winter months ? including Massachusetts, which is leading the way by starting the shutoff moratorium earlier to protect people hurt by the shutdown.

Under normal circumstances, states would already have received Liheap funding. However, because of the shutdown, most states are operating using limited carryover funds from last year?s budget or support from state emergency dollars. Depending on how long the government is closed, full funding may not arrive until well after most states would normally begin to help households pay heating bills.

That delay matters. States spend roughly 80% of Liheap funds during the winter months, when heating costs are highest. Without early funding, millions of low-income households could fall behind on their bills and face their power getting turned off by their utility. And for the 9% of households nationwide who rely on delivered fuels like heating oil or propane which aren?t regulated by public service commissions, a funding delay could mean no heat at all.

Families are getting squeezed on every side by the shutdown. The Trump administration has already fired most of the staff responsible for administering the program, and even recommended eliminating Liheap entirely in its budget proposal.

At the same time, energy prices are rising at the fastest pace in more than a decade. Electricity costs are up 10% nationwide since January, and heating bills are expected to rise nearly 8% this winter. More than 210 electric and natural gas utilities have either already increased rates or proposed rate increases within the next two years. Those increased costs are hitting consumers hard: household energy debt has ballooned to $23bn, up 31% in just 18 months, and one out of every six American households is behind on energy bills. And we?re expecting to see 500,000 more households get shut off this winter compared to last year.

Energy insecurity has become one of America?s most overlooked emergencies. For low-income families, a missed payment isn?t just a financial inconvenience ? it?s a crisis. When the power goes out, so do essential medical devices, space heaters, and refrigerators storing insulin and other medicines. In the richest country on earth, no family should have to face a freezing night or an avoidable emergency.

Beyond the shutdown, we need longer-term solutions, like the Heating and Cooling Relief Act, to increase funding and improve outreach for Liheap, so that no household is left behind. Until that happens, utilities have a duty to protect their customers. They should pause shutoffs immediately ? or be told to do so by state utility commissioners ? and work with state agencies to identify families most at risk. And we?ll be pushing, in Congress and outside, to make that happen.

Because in America, no one should lose heat because Washington can?t keep its own lights on.