OMAHA — Nebraska will get an “unexpected” boost of nearly $9 million in federal funding for a home energy program that helps financially strapped  households, a state agency spokesperson said Friday.

The Biden administration this week announced that $4.5 billion is being distributed nationally to help Americans with heating costs this winter under the long-established Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also known as LIHEAP.

Of that, Nebraska was awarded about $39 million. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, Jeff Powell, said that about $30 million was anticipated as the state’s annual LIHEAP allotment — but that his team learned this week of the additional, “unexpected” $9 million.

For low- to moderate-income households that qualify, the program subsidizes home heating costs, unpaid utility bills and energy-related home repairs.

The funding announced this week was a combination of regular appropriations by Congress, $100 million from President Biden’s infrastructure package and additional emergency funding Congress included in the September continuing resolution.

“For more than 40 years, this program has helped low-income families pay their home heating and cooling bills,” said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “As heating costs increase, it’s more important than ever to help families struggling to make ends meet.”

Powell said Nebraska Health and Human Services officials are evaluating and drafting a plan on how best to use the additional funds.

This story was originally published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. It is part of the national nonprofit States Newsroom. Find more at nebraskaexaminer.com.