Alaskans already on heating aid don't have to reapply for a new $10 million round

Alaska households already enrolled in federal heating assistance won't have to file anything new to get a share of a new round of federal money in September.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan announced Friday that the state will receive an additional $10 million through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, nearly doubling Alaska's existing allocation. The money will go out in September, distributed automatically based on applications already on file. Last year the program covered heating for more than 4,300 Alaska households, with an average award of about $1,550.

The money lands as rural communities face steep winter fuel costs. In villages that get a single annual barge delivery, residents are locked into peak prices all season, with heating fuel topping $15 a gallon in some places. Testifying to state lawmakers in May, June Okada said several Bering Strait communities had run completely out of heating fuel and were turning to electricity, "which shifts costs into unaffordable utility bills."

Sullivan tied the award to an Alaska energy task force he announced in May with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. "Alaskans deal with the highest cost of living in the nation, and the recent disruptions to energy supplies have only made this challenge more urgent," he said.

The state Division of Public Assistance says the program is fully open and processing applications statewide, with no delays expected. The non-crisis application deadline is April 30.