BEAUMONT, TEXAS – During LIHEAP Action Day March 2, Entergy Texas representatives and community partners will make the case for increased funding of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The funding goal is at least $4.7 billion for 2017.

Last year, Texas residents received $114.3 million from the program. Within Entergy Texas’s service territory, more than 34,889 families were assisted.

Face-to-face meetings with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill will address the need for better funding for hot-weather states through the federal program. Advocates will also highlight the current method of distributing available funds, which leaves many families in the hottest, poorest states struggling to meet basic needs such as heating and cooling costs.

Funding of LIHEAP has dropped by a third from $5.1 billion in 2009 to $3.4 billion today. This reduction limits the level of assistance available for the more than 3.8 million qualifying households in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas – the four states in which Entergy’s utility customers reside.

Restoring funding could result in an estimated $450 million in assistance, capable of helping thousands of qualifying households in Entergy’s utility service area of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In 2015, these states received an estimated $210 million from LIHEAP.

Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to more than 430,000 customers in 27 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including nearly 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.