Last winter, Michael Jandro and Jillian Park could have faced heating costs that rivaled the $806 monthly mortgage payment on their Maine farmhouse.The couple heat their 135-year-old home with oil, the most expensive of the major heating sources and a common one in Maine, where many residents start bracing for the financial burden long before the first freeze.With each of them injured on the job and unable to work, Mr. Jandro, 43, and Ms. Park, 52, qualified last year for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, a federal initiative that helps vulnerable Americans cover their heating and cooling bills. They paid about $1,500 in heating for the entire winter while the assistance covered the rest. Without that help, Mr. Jandro sa …
