AUGUSTA -- The state's housing agency has processed more than 48,500 applications for heating assistance, officials announced Monday.

Nearly 46,000 Maine households have been approved to receive heating assistance so far.

MaineHousing has also paid out $28 million in heating assistance benefits, officials said.

"Our energy department staff and the staff of the Community Action Program agencies have been working nights and weekends in order to get the benefits out to qualifying low-income households as quickly as possible," Dale McCormick, MaineHousing's director, said in a release Monday.

McCormick said she expects about 70,000 Maine households to receive funds through the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also known as LIHEAP, by the time heating season is over.

More than 3,300 newly eligible households applied for LIHEAP aid this season, MaineHousing officials said.

McCormick said the number of households and the benefits given increased over last year because federal lawmakers changed funding and eligibility in the LIHEAP Program.

The program serves households earning up to 230 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The limit was 170 percent last year.

People earning between 200 and 230 percent are eligible for benefits if a member of the family "is susceptible to hypothermia," McCormick said in the release.

Applications for assistance will be accepted through April 30, 2009.

MaineHousing is not affiliated with Heat Helpers, a fundraiser organized by a joint effort of Kennebec Valley communities, the United Way and Goodwill Industries.

Heat Helpers is designated as an emergency fund to help families in need of heating assistance when they have exhausted other resources, such as the LIHEAP program.

"So far, we have raised just over $50,000," Rob Gordon, executive director of the United Way of Kennebec Valley, said. "We're very pleased at people's generosity. Everyone's gift is valuable."

Heat Helpers will start providing regular help to those in need of heating assistance in January when central Maine feels "the coldest weeks of winter," Gordon said.

The price per gallon for heating oil in Maine on Monday was $2.43, according the Governor's Office of Energy Independence and Security.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Meghan V. Malloy -- 623-3811, ext. 431mmalloy@centralmaine.com