Cheaper fuel oil and natural gas improved the financial situations of low-income Connecticut residents this year, but energy bills remained unaffordable, according to an annual study commissioned by the nonprofit Operation Fuel.
The report, released Wednesday and conducted by Massachusetts-based Fisher, Sheehan and Colton Public Finance and General Economics, said the average low-income Connecticut household (defined as making up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level) faces $1,506 in unaffordable home energy costs this year.
There are 313,000 such low-income households in the state, up from 305,000 a year ago. So the aggregate home energy affordability gap in the state is $471 million, down from $784 million a year ago, when the average gap was $2,560 per low-income household.
The affordability gap is spread evenly around the state’s five congressional districts, the report said.
Operation Fuel, which provides financial assistance for home heating fuel, said federal aid for that purpose continued to decline this year.
Funding for Connecticut from the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) fell $5 million this year, and was enough to cover approximately 14 percent of the affordability gap.
LIHEAP covered an average of 38,931 average annual low-income heating bills this year, down from 43,838 in 2014 and 49,215 in 2013, according to the report.
The report defines heating costs that exceed 6 percent of income as unaffordable.
This year’s report also delved into the rising burden of water bills on state residents. While water costs totaling 3 or 4 percent of household income would be considered affordable, water burdens exceed that amount in several areas of the state, particularly among the lowest-earning low-income households, the report said.
Unlike home heating, there is no significant source of federal water assistance, the report noted.
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