White House calls on local governments to provide housing assistance | Powerful News

The Biden government is urging local authorities to prepare for the use of federal power because U.S. heating prices are expected to rise.

The administration of President Joe Biden has urged states and federal governments to help allocate billions of dollars to help reduce the cost of heating in the United States during the winter months.

The fourth request comes as the heating prices are predicting an increase in the US, which has the coldest months from October to March.

The White House said it had asked “governments, territories and nations to urgently prepare and coordinate programs to make better use of the old American Rescue Plan tools to eliminate housing costs this winter”.

The American Rescue Plan, a $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 recovery package, was signed into law in March. In a statement, the White House outlined a number of steps that local governments can take to ensure that the funds are properly distributed so that people do not freeze.

An estimated 37 million households, or one in three households, in the U.S. each year face an energy crisis, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The petition focuses on three legal funding additions: $ 4.5bn in addition to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which earns approximately $ 3- $ 4 bn in federal funding annually; a $ 21bn upgrade for Emergency Rental Assistance, which helps victims pay off their debts; and $ 350bn to countries and local governments to help allocate more funding.

For them, Republicans have maintained that the aid has been far more destructive than it has helped middle-income families, claiming it has brought wealth and income that has pushed consumer prices up.

Rising prices and lower temperatures

The request from the White House came just days after the EIA warned that burning costs should rise in the US high electricity prices and winter weather forecast.

About half of U.S. households rely on natural gas for heating and are expected to pay around 30 percent for warming this winter, according to EIA estimates. This can rise to 50 percent or more if the temperature is 10 percent cooler than average.

About 40 percent of U.S. households who use electricity for burning can see a slight increase of about six to 15 percent.

Currently, 5% of households using propane heat can see an increase of between 54 and 94 percent, while four percent of oil heaters can see an increase of between 43 and 59 percent.

The White House also called on federal aid agencies to “stop the closure of winter facilities and help speed up unprecedented federal aid”.

The White House said a number of aid companies, including DTE Energy, Eversource, National Grid, NorthWestern Energy and Portland General Electric, had already signed a list of items that included using company information to determine who should receive government assistance, such as. and a commitment not to give up help to those who are applying for federal assistance.