Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs - Building Homes and Strengthening Communities

Energy Assistance Funding

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) completely funds the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs' Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program (CEAP), and partially funds the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds the DOE WAP Program.

Each year, TDHCA submits the LIHEAP Plan to HHS. HHS reviews the state plan, and then distributes its energy assistance funds to the states. Each year, TDHCA submits the DOE WAP Plan to DOE. DOE reviews the state plan, and then distributes its energy assistance funds to the states.

LIHEAP's Energy Assistance funding cycle is administered on an annual basis, according to the federal fiscal year, which runs October 1st through September 30th. DOE WAP funding cycle is administered on an annual basis, according to the DOE WAP program year, which runs from April 1st through March 31st.

Each year, TDHCA's Energy Assistance section distributes all of its energy assistance funding throughout the state according to a detailed allocation formula. The monies go directly to subrecipients, who contract with the Department to provide energy assistance program services in their area. The TDHCA CEAP program year runs from January 1st to December 31st. The TDHCA LIHEAP WAP and DOE WAP program year runs from April 1st through March 31st.

Emergency funds are additional energy assistance funds that come to TDHCA from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' LIHEAP Funds, per authorization by the President. Usually this occurs due to severe weather conditions or due to the supply of energy resources that are affected by shortages or costs. TDHCA distributes any emergency energy assistance funds it receives to its subrecipients located throughout the state.

Statewide Distribution Funding Formula

Geographic Allocation: Statewide by formula. TDHCA distributes its CEAP and WAP funds according to a multi-factor formula designed in cooperation with subrecipients. All figures are calculated by county based on five factors. The five factors carry the following weights in the allocation formula: number of non-elderly poverty households (40 percent), number of poverty households with at least one member who is 65 years of age or older (40 percent), household density as an inverse ratio (5 percent), the median income of the county (5 percent), and a weather factor based on Heating Degree Days (days when households are more likely to use heating energy) and Cooling Degree Days (days when households are more likely to use cooling energy) (10 percent). All demographic factors are based on the 2000 U.S. Census. The formula is as follows:

  1. County Non-elderly Poverty Household Factor (0.40) plus;
  2. County Elderly Poverty Household Factor (0.40) plus;
  3. County Inverse Poverty Household Density Factor (0.05) plus;
  4. County Median Income Variance Factor (0.05) plus;
  5. County Weather Factor (0.10);
  6. Total sum of paragraph 1-5 of this subsection multiplied by total funds allocation equals the County’s allocation of funds.