North Dakota Aims For Smoother Enrollment For Home Heating Aid

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service) – Recent arctic blasts are placing additional pressure on North Dakotans juggling heating costs with other needs, and for households with prolonged hardships, state officials are trying a new feature to ensure families stay enrolled in a key aid program.

In 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services switched to year-round applications for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which covers a portion of monthly heating bills for eligible utility customers.

Joshua Haugen, program administrator for the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, said before, there were specific application periods for each heating season. When too many people signed up at once, it created unintended consequences.

“That was an extra burden on processing those applications in a very short window of time, so that could cause some delays in getting benefits to households that were in need,” Haugen explained.