Two Maine members of Congress have joined with a Rhode Island senator to push for more funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a 2nd District Democrat, are working with Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat, to ask for an extra $500 million in supplemental funding.

The program helps low-income households with home energy bills.

The average cost to heat a home is expected to increase by 17% this winter to $1,208, up from $1,031 last season, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association.

In a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Collins, Golden and Reed said states in the Northeast are facing rising prices and difficult choices about which families to help.

“Meanwhile, the average cost of heating oil is nearly 70 percent higher than last year and natural gas is 20 percent higher,” they wrote. “This leaves states in the position of making tough choices about the amount of assistance they will provide and the number of people they will serve with the limited funding available.”

The request comes just days after Republicans in the Maine Senate blocked a state-level proposal that would have sent $450 checks to most Mainers to help with the heating bills this winter.

The $474 million proposal from Democratic Gov. Janet Mills also included $40 million in supplemental funding for the low-income heating assistance program, $10 million for emergency fuel assistance and $21 million to support emergency housing and shelters.

Republicans said the plan was being rushed through the Legislature and have asked for a public hearing to be held before another vote is taken on the proposal.