Operation Fuel, which provides emergency assistance for Connecticut residents who are struggling to pay energy and utility bills, received more than 400 requests for help within the first four hours of the application process opening Monday.
During the winter/spring season, Operation Fuel hopes to serve about 4,000 families, according to Chief Program and Policy Officer Gannon Long.
Requests for Operation Fuel assistance have increased in recent years, since the COVID-19 pandemic and are expected to continue rising. The demand is due to a number of factors including a spike in rent and utility costs.
“Rent has become completely unaffordable. For a lot of folks. It's gone up over 50% in the last few years. That's a base cost you know, your housing, your energy costs are pretty closely connected. There's also utility rates,” Long said.
While the demand for assistance is up, funding for Operation Fuel is down. COVID relief dollars, which helped fund the program, expired last year.
And in 2024 Operation Fuel only received half of the $3.5 million funding it was allotted by the state. The first half of the funds were given to the organization in February, but had to be committed and spent by September.
The other half was promised to, but never received by Operation Fuel.
“In May 2024 as we approached the funding cap and prepared to reach out to DSS (Department of Social Services) for the second half of the funds, we learned the legislature had allocated all the remaining dollars to several other projects and they would no longer be available for Operation Fuel,” Long said.
“Although we didn’t expect the cut, luckily we had the resources to cover grants for the remaining applications we’d received,” Long said.
Last fall, the application period was only open for three weeks because there were not enough funds to keep up with the demand for assistance. During those three weeks, Operation Fuel received about 2,500 applications, and were able to serve about 1,700 households, Long said.
“Typically, we see about twice as many families apply for assistance in the winter as we do in the summer,” Long said.
During the 2024 fiscal year, Operation Fuel spent more than $4 million assisting families with fuel needs. Funding is expected to decrease to $3 million this year, Long said.
Operation Fuel is urging state lawmakers to invest further in the nonprofit.
One of the goals is to help legislators understand who is benefiting from the fund and why it's needed, Long said.
“You have elderly folks on a fixed income that need an oil delivery so that they can take a hot shower and keep their pipes from freezing. If that couple needs a place to go, that's Operation Fuel,” Long said.
The energy assistance program is available to low and moderate income families. Families experiencing an extreme need for assistance are prioritized. This may mean that the home is without heat or electricity, Long said. Families with children or elderly members in the home also rise to the top of the list.
The maximum benefit a family can receive is $500, in a 12-month period.
“Our energy assistance program is about more than just covering heating costs—it’s about providing a safety-net for our community members struggling during economic hardship, and empowering them towards a secure, sustainable future,” Chief Executive Officer Perkin Simpson said.
