AG Campbell's Office Opens Application Period for $1.1M Grant Program to Help Residents Pay Heating Bills

Grant Program to Provide Funding to State Agencies, Municipalities, and Nonprofits to Assist Households in Paying Their Monthly Heating Bills

BOSTON – Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has announced the renewal of the AGO’s Residential Energy Assistance Grant (REAG) program, which will make available through a Request for Proposals process, $1.1 million to public and nonprofit entities to help Massachusetts residents pay or lower their heating bills.

“Every winter countless families sacrifice other needs to pay their heating bills, or struggle to pay their bills altogether because of rising costs. Through the Residential Energy Assistance Grant we will ensure that residents receive relief and homes are heated during the cold weather and winter,” said AG Campbell.

The AG’s REAG Program is open to state agencies, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations with eligible programs, including those that provide direct assistance to residents by subsidizing their home heating costs or those that provide specialized assistance to customers in need, such as translating application documents.

Approximately 400,000 Massachusetts residential customers currently receive a low-income discount rate on their electric and gas bills and many more are eligible.

The AG’s Office is especially interested in proposals for programs that will provide funding to families who otherwise would not receive fuel assistance, or who are not receiving sufficient help paying their monthly heating bills. Eligible applicants for the REAG Program will be municipalities and nonprofit organizations thatprovide assistance to households that make 80 percent or less than the Massachusetts median income. In particular, the AG’s Office seeks applicants that can provide assistance for households that make 60 to 80 percent of the state’s median income families who are vulnerable to winter’s rising energy rates, yet simultaneously ineligible for assistance from the state’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which only serves households that make 60 percent or less of the state median income.

Applicants are encouraged to request funding that is commensurate to the scale of their proposal and their capacity to operate grant-eligible programming. Interested applicants can visit the AG’s website for more information and application instructions. Questions about the grant program can be submitted by email toAGOgrants@mass.gov.

Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. on January 12, 2024.