Please see the letter below from Maine Equal Justice Partners regarding an update to the changes in the Standard Utility Allowance for the Food Stamp Progam.

Dear Friends,

 As you may remember, the Standard Utility Allowance for the Food Supplement Program had been scheduled to be reduced from $700 to $530 in October.  The federal Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) then decided to allow states to extend the use of the full $700 Standard Utility Allowance through 2010.    

The Food and Nutrition Service has now decided to allow states to continue to use the full $700 Standard Utility Allowance through March 31, 2011.  This will allow Food Supplement recipients to continue to use the higher utility allowance through the winter months when energy costs are at their highest.  

Households who recertified in December may have had their Food Supplement benefit calculated based on the reduced Standard Utility Allowance.  Benefits for those households will be recalculated and new notices will be sent out.  

When the Standard Utility Allowance reduction does go into effect in April 2011, the new FNS policy ensures that no household will experience more than a $20 decrease in its monthly Food Supplement benefit. 

Please feel free to let us know if you have questions about this.