New Hampshire Senators Judd Gregg and John Sununu say that the Department of Health and Human Services will release $1.5 million in federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to the state today.
Sununu said the money would normally have been allocated later in the year, but the federal agency agreed to act now due to the cold weather in New Hampshire and the rising cost of heating oil.
The money represents the remaining amount of the State’s Block Grant allotment for the funds for fiscal year 2008. That brings New Hampshire’s federal funding for the first six months of the fiscal year to $22 million. That’s a $3.5 million increase over the state’s allocation for the entire 2007 fiscal year.