For many low-income Mainers who struggle year-round just to stay even, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is essential to keeping warm through the winter.

This week’s chill is a reminder that heating bills will only rise in the months ahead. Unfortunately, with the worst possible timing, LIHEAP is beginning the winter of 2010-11 with 35 percent less than last year’s appropriation.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and 40 more U.S. senators are making a bipartisan case to reset LIHEAP’s funding at last year’s level of $5.1 billion. In a letter to the Senate Appropriations committee, they asked for a bill extending funding for the energy assistance program at this level through next September.

LIHEAP payments helped 63,000 Maine households get through a financially difficult season this past year. The coming winter is not shaping up any better, Snowe said, with Maine’s unemployment rate at 8 percent and heating oil prices 11 percent higher than last year.

In this season of political uncertainty, we hope the administration and members of Congress reconsider the idea of curtailing this essential aid. Otherwise, the residents of many states will suffer; Maine’s 2009 allocation of $54.3 million stands to be cut to just $29 million.

Such a cut will leave many Mainers without much hope of assistance. However, Snowe urged those eligible to contact Community Action Program agencies to apply for assistance. Once enrolled, participants can work out a payment plan, if necessary, to avoid being shut off in midwinter.

— Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Nick Cowenhoven at nickc@journaltribune.com.