Help With Energy Bills: How LIHEAP Works

1Step 1: If it is an emergency, ask for crisis help today

If you have a shutoff notice, your service has already been disconnected, or your fuel tank is nearly empty, do not file an ordinary application and wait. Call your state's LIHEAP agency and ask for crisis assistance by name. Federal rules require help within 48 hours of applying, or within 18 hours if the situation is life-threatening.

Call your utility at the same time. Many offer payment plans, and many states limit disconnections in winter, in extreme heat, or when a doctor certifies that someone in the home depends on medical equipment or would be endangered by losing heat or cooling. Tell both the utility and the agency about any older or disabled household member or young child, since LIHEAP gives those households priority.

For oil, propane, kerosene or wood, the urgency is greater. Ask for help before the tank runs dry: some heating systems need servicing to restart after running out, and fuel dealers often have a minimum delivery.

2Step 2: Find your state's program and its season

You apply through your state's LIHEAP office or a local agency it designates, often a community action agency, not through a federal office. The federal LIHEAP contact listing shows each state's. Some take applications online, others by appointment or mail.

Timing matters more than almost anything else. Many northern states take heating applications from fall through spring, cooling programs run in summer, and crisis help may be available year-round. Because LIHEAP is not an entitlement, a state stops approving applications when its money for the year is spent, even for households that qualify. Find out your state's opening date and apply in the first weeks. Tribes and territories run programs of their own, so members of a tribe with its own LIHEAP program may apply there instead.

3Step 3: Check the income limit for your state

Each state sets its own limit within a federal range. It may not turn a household away for income below 110 percent of the poverty line, and may not set its limit above the greater of 150 percent of poverty or 60 percent of the state's median income. Using the 2026 poverty guidelines:

Swipe sideways to see the whole table.

Each state chooses which year's figures to use. The second ceiling is the one people miss. In many states, 60 percent of state median income is higher than 150 percent of poverty, especially for smaller households, so a household above the table may still qualify. Only your state's published limit settles it.

Most states also treat households receiving SNAP, TANF, SSI or certain needs-tested veterans benefits as eligible on income without a separate test; some require only one member to receive the benefit, others all of them. Check where your income sits against the federal range, and list every benefit your household receives when you apply.

4Step 4: Gather what the agency will ask for

• A recent energy bill, and any shutoff or disconnection notice.
• Proof of income for everyone in the household, or proof of SNAP, TANF, SSI or veterans benefits.
• Identification and proof of address, and Social Security numbers if your state asks for them.
• Your lease, if heat or utilities are included in your rent.

If you cannot produce one of these, for example proof of cash income from odd jobs, do not give up on the application. Ask the agency what else it will accept; the person taking your application has usually seen your situation before.

A household, for LIHEAP, is generally everyone living together who shares the energy bill. Renters can qualify, including many whose heat is included in the rent, on terms each state sets; if you live in public or subsidized housing and pay your own energy bills, you can apply like anyone else.

5Step 5: Know which kind of help to ask for

LIHEAP money can pay for four kinds of help, and states decide which to offer:

• Heating assistance: a payment toward heating costs, usually sent to your utility or fuel supplier.
• Cooling assistance: the same for summer electricity, offered mainly in hot states.
• Crisis assistance: for shutoffs, disconnections and empty tanks, as in step one.
• Weatherization and energy-related repairs: insulation, sealing and sometimes furnace repair or replacement, which lower bills for good.

Benefits are usually paid once a season rather than monthly. Federal law requires states to give the largest benefits to households with the lowest incomes and the highest energy costs relative to income, and priority to households with an older or disabled member or a young child. A retired couple on SSI with an expensive oil furnace, for instance, is likely to receive one of the larger payments in its state, while a working family with gas heat just under the limit receives a smaller one.

6Step 6: After you apply

The agency checks your income and energy costs and sends a written decision. If you are approved, the payment usually goes to your utility or fuel supplier and appears as a credit on your bill, often a few weeks later; some states pay renters whose heat is included in the rent directly. Most states allow one heating or cooling benefit per season, plus crisis help if a new emergency arises, and you reapply each year.

If you are denied, or your application is not acted on promptly, federal law requires the state to offer a fair hearing; the decision letter explains how to ask and the deadline. See our guide to appealing a benefit decision.

7Is it worth applying for a one-time payment?

People sometimes skip LIHEAP because a single seasonal payment does not seem worth the paperwork. Before deciding, weigh what an approval can bring with it.

• The payment itself, which for many households covers a meaningful share of a winter's heating or a summer's cooling.
• A path to weatherization, often run by the same local agency, which lowers bills every year after.
• A stronger position with your utility. An approved application, or one pending, can help when you ask for a payment plan or a delay in a shutoff.
• A possible SNAP increase for households with an older or disabled member, through the higher utility allowance.

And because the money runs out, a household that waits until it is desperate may find nothing left. Applying early, while the bill is still manageable, is the surest way to get help at all.

8When LIHEAP is not enough

If your state's funds are gone or the payment does not cover the gap, ask about:

• Utility hardship funds and discount rates, which many gas and electric companies offer to customers with low incomes.
• Budget billing, which spreads a year's costs evenly over twelve months.
• The Weatherization Assistance Program from the Department of Energy, run through the same local agencies.
• Rules that limit shutoffs in winter, in extreme heat, or for households with a medical need.

Energy help also connects to other benefits. A household with an older or disabled member that receives LIHEAP can qualify automatically for the higher utility allowance in SNAP, which can raise its SNAP benefit. For phone and internet, see Lifeline; for rent, see Section 8 housing vouchers; and for repairs to a home you own in a rural area, USDA home repair loans and grants.

10What only your state can tell you

Whether you qualify and how much you would receive depend on your state's income limit, benefit table and application season, and on whether its money for the year is still available. Our calculator shows where your income sits against the federal range; it does not hold state median income figures or estimate a payment, because there is no federal benefit formula to estimate.