Monday, Oct 17 2011 4:17PM

The Energy Assistance Program (EAP), an initiative to help disadvantaged families pay for utilities, has run out of funding and will be suspended, which the Las Vegas Sun expects to negatively impact Nevada communities.

The news source indicated the program will resume in November, when it receives funding from a surcharge on electricity bills. The program was also funded by the federal government in the past, but appropriations have not passed Congress.

These funding difficulties come at a particularly bad time for Nevada, which has the highest unemployment rate nationwide. More than 30,000 families qualified for the benefit this year, but next year, assistance will be capped at 25,000 families, despite the fact that applications for assistance have increased.

A bill which would have raised the electricity surcharge was not passed by the state Legislature. At the same time, federal legislators currently disagree over what to do about the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the federal initiative which funded Nevada's EAP

This combination of factors may put additional financial pressure on the Nevada residents who can least afford it, as well as on both the state and federal government to find the funds needed to pay for the program. Government budget cuts may similarly endanger other rural community assistance programs.
 

For further reference, check out this source: Las Vegas Sun