Federal Energy Assistance Program Wastes $100 Million

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson The Associated Press reports that the federal government’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) “wasted more than $100 million paying the electric bills of thousands of applicants who were dead, in prison or living in million-dollar mansions.” LIHEAP is designed to help low-income families pay their electric bills, but there was “little oversight of...

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

The Associated Press reports that the federal government’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) “wasted more than $100 million paying the electric bills of thousands of applicants who were dead, in prison or living in million-dollar mansions.” LIHEAP is designed to help low-income families pay their electric bills, but there was “little oversight of the program.” In fact, “some states don’t verify applicants’ identifies or income.”

The article included two examples of waste from Illinois including the program paying energy bills for “a woman who lives in a $2 million home in a wealthy Chicago suburb and drives a Mercedes” and “a U.S. Postal Service employee who fraudulently reported zero income even though she earned about $80,000 per year.” To read the full article, click here. You can also check out the 2010 Illinois Piglet Book to read about recent wasteful spending at the state level.