By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

More than 9,000 area families could be getting some additional help soon with their home heating costs.

How much help, though, isn’t clear. That depends largely on President Bush.

Congress approved an additional $1 billion nationally last week for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program for fiscal 2006. Half will be doled out as emergency assistance and half based on existing formulas, according to Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.

Snowe, a Maine Republican, sponsored the measure that the House OK’d last week adding the $1 billion to legislation reauthorizing national flood insurance.

Ferrier said the Bush administration will decide which states get how much of the $500 million in emergency assistance money that he controls. She’s hoping a significant amount comes to Maine.

Bush is expected to sign the legislation shortly, Ferrier said Monday.

Earlier this winter, Maine depleted its federal LIHEAP funds. Encouraged by Gov. John Baldacci, the Legislature appropriated an extra $5 million to help the state’s neediest people pay their heating bills.

Ferrier said Snowe is hoping Bush earmarks most of the $500 million he controls for cold weather states.

In addition to any money Bush directs to Maine, the state will also get about $300,000 based on the customary formula from the appropriation, according to Jo-Ann Choate. She directs Maine’s LIHEAP program.

Choate said $300,000 by itself isn’t enough to make a dent in the state’s needs; much of it will pay to plan for next year’s winter programs, although some might be used to meet individual household emergencies.

She said about 53,000 families statewide applied for energy assistance this year with 48,000 households helped. The basic program’s maximum benefit is $660, Choate said.

That’s a far cry from meeting a household’s total heating bill.

Since 2001, the average national household heating oil expenditure has risen from $627 to $1,474. Natural gas heating costs are up from $465 to $1,000 and propane has gone from $736 to $1,286.

The figures come from the Energy Information Agency, an arm of the U.S. Department of Energy. The numbers reflect nationwide costs, not actual outlays in northern states such as Maine.

In Maine, statewide average costs of various heating fuels are 21 to 35 cents per gallon higher than last year’s costs at this time of year.

The State Planning Office estimates that nearly 80 percent of Maine’s homes heat with oil. A typical household will burn about 1,000 gallons annually.

Of Maine families seeking LIHEAP assistance, more than 7,000 live in Androscoggin and Oxford counties, said Mary Ellen Theriault, spokeswoman for Community Concepts Inc. Another 2,200 to 2,500 families live in Franklin County, according to Judy Frost, the housing director for Western Maine Community Action.

Both said the organizations continue to accept applications for LIHEAP assistance. The application period runs through April 30.

Ferrier said Congress has already approved one round of LIHEAP funding earmarked for fiscal 2007. That money totals $3.3 billion, not enough to make a significant difference in the amount available for Maine families, said Choate.

However, Choate said other pending bills could swell the LIHEAP bottom line to more than $5 billion. That would help more families and probably at a higher funding level, she said.