During the mid-to-late 1970s, the federal government started to build several program related to energy assistance to low-income households culminating in the implementation of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in 1981.
In 1973, the state of Maine applied for federal funds to help low-income households afford to pay for oil and wood to heat their homes which was becoming more difficult due to the OPEC Oil embargo which was significantly raising prices. The application was approved and funding was used mostly for weatherizing homes but some funding was also used for counseling and direct emergency assistance.1
Modeled on the Maine Program, the Emergency Energy Conservation Program (EECP), run by the Community Services Administration (CSA), began in 1975 which also focused on weatherization funding but also gave the option for funds to vouchers for direct assistance for heating.
In 1979, the EECP weatherization program was replaced with a weatherization program run by the Department of Energy. Due to this change the CSA began to provide direct assistance to low-income households to help pay energy bills.
In 1980, Congress authorized $1.6 Billion in energy assistance to be split between the CSA and the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with expansion coming through the HHS program.
The Crude Oil Windfall Profits Act of 1980 also created the Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP).This program shifted policy from just dealing with emergency situations to helping more consistently with vulnerable populations energy needs.
LIEAP made it so: 1
payments could be made to both individuals in need and suppliers or utility companies.
Also expanded assistance to those with medically necessary cooling needs
In 1981, LIEAP was changed to Low-Income Home Energy assistance program (LIHEAP). Although very similar to LIEAP, LIHEAP could also offer programs that provided:
non-medical cooling assistance
weatherization assistance
increased the eligibility requirement to 150% of the federal Poverty guideline or 60% of the State Median Income (whichever was higher)
grantees were also given more flexibility, reducing the number of administrative requirements.
For more information on LIHEAP, see here.
For the full text of the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Act of 1980, see here.
Endnotes
1. https://liheapch.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/webfiles/docs/History_of_LIHEAP.pdf