LIHEAP Utility Assistance: Eligibility and How to Apply

If your heating or cooling bills have become hard to pay, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) may be able to help. LIHEAP is a federally funded program that helps eligible households with home energy bills, energy crises, and — in some areas — weatherization or minor energy-related repairs. You do not apply to the federal government. You apply through a state, territory, tribal, or local office, and that office decides eligibility, benefit amounts, and timing under its own current plan.

That local structure is the single most important thing to understand about LIHEAP. Income rules, application windows, required documents, crisis definitions, and available funding all differ by location and can change during the year. The first practical step for almost everyone is the same: find the office that serves your address and check whether it is currently accepting regular or crisis applications. Applying through that office is always free.

Start here

• Find your state, tribal, or local LIHEAP office and apply for regular assistance if your service is on, the bill is hard to pay, and your local program's window is open.
• Ask that same office for a crisis screening — and call your utility company today — if you have a shutoff notice, disconnected service, or nearly empty heating fuel.
• Call 911 or your utility's emergency line first, before anything on this page, if you smell gas, suspect carbon monoxide, or someone's health is in immediate danger.
• Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, if you are struggling to cope. It is free, confidential, and answered 24 hours a day. For local help with utilities, food, or shelter, call 211.
• Start with emergency financial and local help if utilities are only one of several urgent needs you are facing at once.

One thing to know before you begin. In most places, applying for LIHEAP does not by itself stop a scheduled disconnection — your utility controls the shutoff, not the assistance office. But that is not universal, and the exception matters: Indiana bars a regulated utility from disconnecting a household that is eligible for and has applied for its Energy Assistance Program between December 1 and March 15, and tells applicants to inform the utility that an application is in (Indiana Code 8-1-2-121, as published by IHCDA). So tell your utility that you have applied, and check what may already protect you where you live. If you have a shutoff date, call the utility the same day you contact the LIHEAP office, and ask each of them what they can do.

Reviewed and sources rechecked August 2, 2026, including the state application statuses and utility protections below, which can change quickly during a season — always confirm on your own agency's current page. This page is rechecked before the heating and cooling seasons and whenever a funding status changes.

In this guide

• If your service is off or a shutoff is scheduled
  • Your real deadline is the date on your notice
• The federal 48-hour and 18-hour crisis assurance
• Where to apply: the official free path
• The variables that decide whether LIHEAP fits
• What LIHEAP can help with and what it usually does not cover
• Who may qualify and who decides
• Checking your current application window
• Documents to gather and how to apply
• Regular assistance, crisis assistance, and shutoff action
• Protections you may already have
• What happens if you do nothing
• What happens after you apply
• If LIHEAP is closed, unavailable, or not enough
• Frequently asked questions
• Your next step

If your service is off or a shutoff is scheduled

Use this table to pick the right lane before reading anything else.

Your situation	Do this now	What to know
Immediate danger: fire, gas smell, suspected carbon monoxide, or a medical emergency	Leave the unsafe area and call 911 or your utility's emergency line.	LIHEAP is not an emergency-response service. Address the safety risk first.
Service is already off, a shutoff is scheduled, or heating fuel is nearly gone	Call your utility company, your local LIHEAP office, and 211 today. Give the exact shutoff date or fuel level and ask the LIHEAP office for a crisis screening.	Applying does not automatically stop a disconnection, and reconnection is not guaranteed. Acting the same day gives every party the most room to help.
Service is on, but the bill is more than you can manage	Check your local program's current window and apply for regular assistance. Ask your utility about a payment arrangement at the same time.	Funds are limited in many areas, and eligibility is decided locally — applying early in a window matters.

The utility controls the disconnection schedule. The agency controls crisis screening. That split explains most of what follows.

Your real deadline is the date on your notice

If a disconnection notice has arrived, the date printed on it is your deadline. It is not the LIHEAP application window, and it is not the 48-hour crisis assurance described in the next section — those are the agency's clocks. This one belongs to your utility, and it is the one that ends your service.

How much warning you are owed is set by your state, not by the company. Utility commissions set the minimum written notice a regulated utility must give before shutting off service, and it is usually short. Pennsylvania, for example, requires at least a 10-day written notice, bars termination on Fridays, weekends, and the day before a holiday, and lets a single notice stay valid for 60 days — so a shutoff can arrive any time from day 11 through day 60 (Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission). Other states set their own periods. Find your state's public utility or public service commission, or ask 211 for it by name, and ask what applies to your account.

A notice is not the same as a shutoff, and some accounts are protected from both. Depending on your state, the season, and who lives in your home, a disconnection may already be barred or postponable. Read protections you may already have before you plan around the date.

What is lost if the date passes, and what can be recovered. Service goes off on the utility's schedule. Getting it back usually costs a reconnection fee and can require a deposit on top of what you already owe, and restoration runs at the pace the company's own rules allow. None of that is permanent — service can be restored — but keeping it on is far cheaper and far faster. That is why the same-day call is worth making even when you expect the answer to be no.

Write down the date on the notice, the amount it names, and the utility's phone number before anything else. They go at the top of the tracker below.

The federal 48-hour and 18-hour crisis assurance

Federal law sets a floor for crisis responsiveness: programs receiving crisis funds must provide some form of assistance within 48 hours of a crisis application — and within 18 hours in a life-threatening situation — for households that are eligible. Read that assurance carefully rather than as a countdown clock. It applies to eligible households under the state or tribal program's own crisis definition, it generally depends on a complete application with the required documentation, and real-world timing is shaped by local implementation, weekends and holidays, and how quickly a fuel vendor or utility can act. It is a reason to apply immediately and completely — not a guarantee of approval or restoration on a schedule.

You can see what it actually is on the paperwork. On Arkansas's LIHEAP application form, the assurance appears as a box the intake worker completes — a disposition time marked 18 hours or 48 hours. It is an internal processing standard the agency works to, not a promise made to you personally.

One documented exception matters, because it applies in exactly the weather that tends to cause energy crises. These crisis performance standards can be set aside in an area affected by a major disaster or emergency declared by the President, or by a natural disaster identified by the chief executive of a state, territory, or direct-grant tribe, where the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that compliance is impracticable (45 CFR § 96.89). After a storm or a declared emergency, ask your local office what timeline it is actually working to.

Where to apply: the official free path

There is one legitimate route into LIHEAP, and it does not cost anything:

1. Start from an official locator. Use the LIHEAP office search tool or the USA.gov energy-bill help page to find the agency that serves your state, territory, or tribe. The federal agency also points applicants to EnergyHelp.us, which it publishes in English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.
2. Confirm the office that actually serves your address. In many places, applications go through a county office, a tribal program, or a local community action agency rather than the state's central office — Arkansas, for example, states plainly that its state energy office does not process applications. Do not assume the central office takes yours.
3. Read the current page for status, not just rules. Look for the program year, an "open" or "closed" statement, posted dates, whether crisis assistance is available, the accepted ways to apply, and any funding notice. Check which application covers your situation too: regular and crisis assistance may share one form, use an add-on, or run as separate local processes.
4. If it is not obvious, call and ask before submitting. A two-minute question to the intake office is faster than a rejected form.
5. Apply directly with that agency, for free. No legitimate LIHEAP application requires a filing fee, and the federal program charges no fee for receiving a benefit.
6. If the locator fails, or you cannot get online, call. The National Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) line at 1-866-674-6327 — TTY 1-866-367-6228, weekdays 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern — can point you to your local office, and NEAR also takes email at energyassistance@ncat.org if you include your city, county, and state. Dialing 211 reaches local referral specialists. None of these routes needs a smartphone or a home internet connection.

Your program may not be called LIHEAP. The federal agency notes that a number of states call it HEAP, the Home Energy Assistance Program, and that others use a different variation of the name or a different name entirely, with crisis components often named separately again. New York runs it as HEAP; Indiana runs it as the Energy Assistance Program. If a search for "LIHEAP" plus your state returns nothing useful, start from the locator instead and let it route you.

Money Hope Now is an independent publisher, not a government agency. We do not accept LIHEAP applications, process documents, or influence any decision. Everything the program offers is available directly — and at no cost — from the official agencies linked above. This page carries no affiliate links, no lead forms, and no paid placements, and we are not paid for any application, referral, or approval.

The variables that decide whether LIHEAP fits

There is no single national LIHEAP income limit and no national application. Whether the program fits your household comes down to a short list of variables — and every one of them is defined by the agency that serves your location.

1. Where you live. This determines which state, territory, or tribal program applies, which local office handles intake, and every rule below it.
2. Your household as the program defines it. Each program defines who counts in your household, and limits and benefits scale with that definition.
3. Gross income over the period your office uses. Programs measure income across a set period — Arkansas asks for proof of all income for the four weeks before the application, while Indiana measures the most recent three months. Federal law bounds where a program may set its limit; the limit itself is your program's.
4. Who is responsible for the bill, and which fuel. Whether the bill is in your name, a household member's name, or included in your rent changes how you apply and what proof is requested, and electric, gas, propane, heating oil, wood, and cooling costs can each be treated differently under the local plan.
5. Whether an energy crisis exists. An energy crisis is a condition your program defines for itself — commonly an imminent shutoff, a completed disconnection, or depleted deliverable fuel — and it can open a separate crisis track with its own screening.
6. Priority factors, the current window, and remaining funding. Many programs give priority attention to households with older adults, people with disabilities, or young children, and some weigh a household's energy burden — the share of income going to home energy — which is one more reason a high bill relative to your income is worth documenting rather than being embarrassed about. Even a strong fit cannot be approved while the window is closed or funds are exhausted.

Some official sites offer an eligibility screening questionnaire. Treat it as orientation only: a screening result is not an approval, and only the administering agency can determine eligibility after reviewing an actual application.

What LIHEAP can help with and what it usually does not cover

LIHEAP is a home energy program. Federally, its funds support help with home energy bills, energy crises, weatherization, and minor energy-related home repairs — but each grantee, meaning the state, territorial, or tribal government that receives the federal block grant, decides in its annual plan which components it runs, for which fuels, and at what benefit levels. The same program name can mean heating help only in one place and heating, cooling, and crisis components in another.

Use this table as a boundary map, not a promise. Your local plan controls every row.

Expense	Typical treatment	Notes
Home heating and cooling energy: electricity, natural gas, propane, heating oil, wood, or other delivered fuel	May be covered	Usually through regular heating or cooling assistance for the fuel that powers your heat or air conditioning. Many programs pay fuel vendors directly, and deliveries depend on local arrangements.
Crisis help: preventing shutoff, restoring service, emergency fuel	Depends on your location	Offered where the local plan includes a crisis component, under a local crisis definition.
Cooling components, weatherization, or minor energy-related repairs	Depends on your location	Some grantees run a cooling component or use LIHEAP funds for efficiency work; others do not, or open them only in certain months. A separate federal Weatherization Assistance Program also exists.
Water, sewer, phone, internet, rent, or mortgage	Generally separate	These sit outside a home energy program, even when utilities are included in your rent. Ask your local agency or 211 what currently covers them in your area.
What LIHEAP is not	—	Not an emergency-response service, not an entitlement, not automatically recurring, and not a substitute for calling your utility. It is a funding-limited block grant, so eligible households can be turned away once the money runs out.

Components can also run on different calendars in the same place: heating, cooling, crisis, and weatherization each open and close separately. If your agency's page is not clear about the one you need, call and ask before building plans around it.

Who may qualify and who decides

Eligibility is a combination of rules, and each layer of the program sets a different piece of it.

There is no national income limit, but there are national bounds. A program may serve households at or below the greater of 150% of the federal poverty guideline or 60% of state median income, and it may not turn a household away on income alone if that income is under 110% of the guideline (42 U.S.C. § 8624).

LIHEAP runs on the federal fiscal year, so the program your office is running now is federal fiscal year 2026, which ends September 30, 2026. Each program must align its income criteria with the newest poverty guidelines and state median income estimates by October 1, or by the start of the state fiscal year if that is later (45 CFR § 96.85) — which is why last season's numbers stop being reliable in the fall.

One more federal rule is worth knowing, because it decides how a limit applies to a household of your size. State median income is adjusted by household size on a fixed federal scale set in the same regulation:

Household size	Share of the four-person state median income figure
1 person	52%
2 people	68%
3 people	84%
4 people	100%
5 people	116%
6 people	132%
Each additional person	Add 3 percentage points

Those numbers tell you the shape of the rule, not your answer. Your program chooses where inside the federal bounds to set its own limits, and many set them below the ceiling.

The same federal provision names a second way in. Households in which someone receives Supplemental Security Income, SNAP, TANF, or certain veterans' pension payments fall within the federal eligibility category, and many programs treat that as a shortcut through part of the income test. Programs differ in how far they take it — some still ask for income documentation — so tell your office which benefits your household receives and ask how it handles them rather than assuming anything carries over automatically. If those programs are new to you, how SNAP applications work and the difference between SSI and SSDI are covered on their own pages.

Pay close attention to the income period your office uses, because it can work in your favor. Many programs measure recent income rather than last year's total, which matters a great deal if your hours were cut or you recently lost a job. If your income just changed, say so when you apply and ask which period the office will count.

Find your household situation

Your circumstances change which questions you will be asked and which office answers them. Find the closest row, then take the first action in it.

Your situation	What decides it where you live	Do this first	Deadline in play
Bill in your name, service on	Your program's income limit, income period, and window	Apply for regular assistance early in the window	The window's closing date
Bill in your name, shutoff scheduled or service off	The local crisis definition and your state's shutoff protections	Ask for a crisis screening; call the utility the same day	The date on your notice
Utilities included in your rent	Whether the program serves rent-included households, and what proof it wants	Ask intake what it needs before assuming you are excluded	The window's closing date
Account is in someone else's name	How the program treats another person's account	Bring the account holder's details to intake and ask	The date on any notice
You heat with propane, oil, or wood	The local fuel-level crisis trigger and which vendors are paid	Give the exact tank level or remaining supply at intake	When the fuel runs out
Your income dropped recently	Which income period your office counts	Say the change out loud at intake	The window's closing date
An older adult, a disabled person, or someone medically dependent on power lives with you	Local priority rules and your state's medical and age-based protections	Say so at intake; ask the utility about a medical certificate	The date on your notice
You are a tribal member or live on tribal land	Whether a tribal, state, or local office serves your address	Let the official locator assign the office	That program's own window
You have no internet or phone data	Nothing — every step here has an offline route	Call NEAR at 1-866-674-6327, or dial 211	Same as your other row

Renters can often apply, including some households whose utilities are included in rent — but conditions differ and are worth knowing before you file. Arkansas requires a copy of the lease in that situation, and states on its application form that a household receiving a subsidy, stipend, allowance, or reimbursement for utilities may not be eligible.

What this page will not do is tell you that you qualify. A published income limit is a screening reference, not a determination. If your household appears to be within your program's current published rules, that is a good reason to apply — and the agency's decision on your actual application is the only answer that counts.

Who actually runs LIHEAP: the four-layer rule

Understanding which layer controls which decision saves real time, because it tells you where to direct each question. Call it the four-layer rule: income limits and benefit levels are not federal questions, application locations and document lists are not state-website questions, and no national article — including this one — can answer what only your caseworker's determination will settle.

Layer	Who decides	What it changes for you
Federal baseline	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (Office of Community Services)	National funding, allowed uses, the outer income framework, crisis-assistance assurances, and the fair-hearing requirement.
State, territory, or tribal implementation	The grantee agency, through its annual plan	Actual income limits, benefit levels, covered fuels and components, application windows, and priority rules.
Local administration	County offices, community action agencies, or other local providers	Where you actually apply, the document list, appointments, intake, and day-to-day processing.
Individual determination	The caseworker and agency reviewing your file	Your approval or denial, your benefit amount, and the notice that starts any appeal clock.

Every status on this page follows that structure: state examples below are verified for their own jurisdiction only, no state's rule is inferred from a neighboring state, and no figure is carried forward from an expired program year.

Checking your current application window

Finding the right office is half the work; confirming that its window is open is the other half. Opening dates, benefit amounts, and required documents change by location and by available funding — which is why this national page never claims that "LIHEAP is open." Three official jurisdictions, all rechecked on the same day, showed three different realities.

Jurisdiction and program	Income basis, FY2026	Status when checked	Verification status
Arkansas — LIHEAP, Arkansas Energy Office, Department of Energy and Environment; intake through community-based organizations in all 75 counties	60% of state median income; households of eight or more at 150% of the federal poverty guideline (Clearinghouse profile)	The agency's page stated the program was open at this check. Community-based organizations take applications first-come, first-served, typically January to April 30 and July to September 30. The agency states it will never charge a fee.	Open / accepting, with limitation — accessed August 2, 2026. The agency's wording for the windows is "typically," and the federal Clearinghouse profile lists the components as year-round. Confirm the current window with the organization serving your county.
District of Columbia — LIHEAP, Department of Energy and Environment	60% of state median income (Clearinghouse profile)	DOEE is no longer accepting new LIHEAP applications. Applications received on or before June 3, 2026 are processed as Utility Discount Program applications, and later ones are reviewed for that program only — a separate, ongoing utility discount.	Closed / not accepting for LIHEAP, with an alternate program named by the agency — accessed August 2, 2026. No reopening date was posted at this check, and the federal Clearinghouse profile still lists District crisis assistance as year-round, which conflicts with the agency's own closure notice. The agency's own page governs.
Indiana — Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority; Local Service Providers process applications	60% of state median income, measured on the most recent three months of income	The program year closed to applications on April 20, 2026. IHCDA states it will reopen in the fall of 2026.	Closed / not accepting; reopening anticipated — accessed August 2, 2026.

These three examples prove variation; they are not a national status list, and each could have changed since the access date shown. The only status that matters to your application is the one posted today on the official page for your own jurisdiction. These rows are reviewed again before the FY2027 heating season, and sooner if a jurisdiction announces a change. One state does have a dedicated page here: if you live in Texas, our guide to Texas utility assistance programs covers the state's income limits, county-level application routes, and shutoff protections in the same verified-status format.

A few terms on a status page deserve a careful eye. "First-come" or "funding-limited" means eligible households can still be turned away once money runs out, so an early, complete application matters more than a perfect one filed late. A page showing a past program year, or contradicting itself about dates, is a signal to call rather than interpret. And if a closure notice names a separate or alternate local program, as the District's does, follow that up with the same agency.

Watch for copycats along the way. The safest test is not what a web address ends in, because some legitimate local agencies take applications through outside portals. The test is whether your own agency's page links it: start there, and follow only the links it gives you. Be cautious with lookalike sites ranking above official results, with anyone offering to file for a fee, and with unsolicited calls offering you a "LIHEAP grant" — the real program does not make grant offers and does not charge anything. Those calls often target older adults. If one has reached someone you care for, report it and call 211 to reach adult protective services in your area.

Documents to gather and how to apply

Your local office's document list controls. The items below are commonly requested across programs, so gathering them early usually saves a trip or a follow-up request — but treat this as a starting pack, not a universal requirement.

Commonly requested documents

• Your most recent utility bill, fuel bill, or account statement for the energy source you need help with.
• Your shutoff or disconnection notice, if you have one — it matters for crisis screening.
• Income records for each household member, covering exactly the period your local office specifies.
• Identity and residence documents for the household, as listed by your office.
• Basic information for each household member, as your program defines the household.
• A lease or landlord verification, if your utilities are included in rent and your office requests it.

Do not assume every program requires a Social Security card, a citizenship document, a photo ID, or a specific number of pay stubs — requirements differ, and your local application or intake worker will tell you exactly what is needed.

Missing documents are a solvable problem, not a reason to skip applying. Your utility can usually provide a copy of a recent bill or an account statement on request, often the same day. If pay stubs are hard to assemble, ask whether your office accepts an employer wage statement, a benefit award letter, or another substitute; households with irregular or self-employment income should ask what the office takes rather than guessing, because offices handle those situations routinely. The key move is the same in every case: submit what you have on time, name what is missing, and get the office's own answer about acceptable alternatives and the deadline to supply them.

Treat that deadline seriously. If it passes, the usual result is a denial for an incomplete application — often curable, since in most places you can reapply while the window is still open, so call the day you realize you have missed it rather than waiting for the notice.

Track your application from day one. LIHEAP files most often stall over a missed document request or an unrecorded submission, and a simple written record protects you. Keep it on paper or on your own device — Money Hope Now does not collect, upload, or store any of this information.

Tracker field	What to record
Shutoff date	The date on any disconnection notice, the amount it names, and the utility's phone number.
Agency and office	The exact office processing your file, with its phone number.
Submission	Date, time, and method (online, mail, phone, in person).
Confirmation	Confirmation number, receipt, or the name of the person who took your application.
Documents sent	Each item submitted, and anything the office said was still missing.
Missing-item deadline	The date by which additional documents are due.
Interview or appointment	Any scheduled contact, with date and format.
Decision notice	The date and content of any notice you receive.
Appeal and renewal dates	The appeal deadline stated on a notice, and when your program next opens.

Copy or photograph everything before you hand it over, and if you applied in person, ask for a date-stamped receipt before you leave.

Regular assistance, crisis assistance, and shutoff action

LIHEAP typically runs on two tracks, and knowing which one you are on changes what you should do today.

Regular assistance addresses eligible home energy costs under the local program: a benefit applied to your heating or cooling account during an open application window. Crisis assistance addresses a locally defined energy crisis — commonly an imminent shutoff, a completed disconnection, dangerously low deliverable fuel, or unsafe indoor temperatures. The two tracks can have different applications, different documents, and different funding, and a place can have one open while the other is closed.

"Some form of assistance," the phrase the federal assurance uses, is deliberately flexible: a payment or commitment to your utility or fuel vendor, an emergency fuel delivery, or another arrangement your program uses. What counts as a crisis is locally defined too, and the definitions are usually published. Arkansas prints its triggers on the application itself: a past-due balance or a disconnect notice, a completed disconnection, heating fuel at or below 20% of tank capacity or with less than a three-week supply where the supplier will not deliver without payment, being out of heating fuel, or an eviction notice caused wholly or partly by unpaid energy charges. The same form asks separately whether anyone in the household has a medical condition requiring connection to a power source, or whose health could be affected by a disruption in service (Arkansas LIHEAP application form). Your program's triggers will differ, which is why describing your situation in concrete terms matters so much at intake. If a crisis develops outside business hours, call your utility's emergency line and 211 right away and reach the LIHEAP office when it opens; the utility, not the assistance program, controls what happens to your service overnight.

If a shutoff is scheduled or your service is already off, run these actions in parallel rather than in sequence:

1. Call your utility today. State your account status and the shutoff date, and ask directly about a payment arrangement, a hold while your assistance application is pending, and any medical or seasonal protection that applies to your account. Some of what a utility offers is its own program and some is required by your state's commission, so ask which is which — a company can decline a courtesy, but not a regulation.
2. Tell the LIHEAP office exactly why this is a crisis. Use concrete facts — "my disconnection is scheduled for Thursday," "my propane tank is below ten percent," "my apartment is at an unsafe temperature" — and ask for a crisis screening. Vague descriptions can route you into the regular track.
3. Call 211 for parallel local options, including charitable utility funds and warming or cooling centers while the underlying problem is resolved.

One line stays fixed: LIHEAP does not replace 911, the fire department, a gas-leak response, a warming or cooling center, or medical care. If conditions in your home are dangerous right now, address the danger first and the paperwork second.

Protections you may already have

Some households are protected from disconnection and do not know it. These protections are set by state law or by your state's utility commission — not by your utility's goodwill, and not by the LIHEAP office — so they can apply whether or not an assistance application is approved. USA.gov confirms the general picture: shutoff protections differ by state and can depend on weather, a household member's age or disability, and the utility involved.

Four kinds exist. Which you have, and on what terms, depends on where you live and sometimes on which company serves you.

• Seasonal protection bars disconnection during defined cold or hot periods, sometimes only for households under an income limit.
• Medical protection requires a utility to postpone a disconnection when a licensed clinician certifies that losing service would harm someone in the home.
• Pending-application protection makes the act of applying for energy assistance the thing that protects the account.
• Household-status protection attaches to a member's age or disability, or to a court order such as a protection-from-abuse order.

Three states, all checked on the same day, show how differently the same idea is built:

State and who sets it	Who is protected	Terms as published	Verification status
Indiana — state law, administered through utilities and IHCDA	Households that are eligible for and have applied for the Energy Assistance Program	Under Indiana Code 8-1-2-121, a regulated utility may not disconnect residential service from December 1 through March 15 for such a household. IHCDA tells applicants facing disconnection to inform the utility that an application has been submitted.	Verified — accessed August 2, 2026
Pennsylvania — Public Utility Commission	Income-qualifying households in winter; any household with a medical certificate, year-round	Winter moratorium from December 1 through March 31 for income-qualifying households. At least a 10-day written termination notice, no termination on Fridays, weekends, or the day before a holiday, and a notice valid for 60 days. A letter from a licensed physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner holds a shutoff for an initial period of up to 30 days, extendable by up to 60 more; the bill still has to be paid.	Verified — commission guidance dated January 2025, accessed August 2, 2026
Arizona — Corporation Commission	Residential electric customers of regulated utilities	Regulated electric utilities choose between a summer moratorium running June 1 to October 15 and suspending disconnections when the forecast is above 95°F or below 32°F (Residential Utility Consumer Office). The Commission states that bills are neither paused nor forgiven during a moratorium.	Verified — accessed August 2, 2026

These are examples, not a national list, and they reflect what those three commissions published on the date shown. Your own rules are set by your own commission and can change between seasons. To find them, search for your state's public utility or public service commission, or call 211 and ask for it by name. Then ask three questions — of the commission, or of your utility with the answer checked against the commission:

• Is a seasonal protection in effect right now, and does my household qualify?
• Does a medical certificate apply here, what form does it take, and how long does it last?
• Does having an energy assistance application on file change anything about my account?

Two limits apply everywhere. A protection delays a disconnection; it does not cancel the bill, and the balance keeps growing behind it. And most protections have to be claimed rather than granted — a certificate filed, an income qualification established — so nothing happens automatically just because you would qualify.

What happens if you do nothing

It is worth being plain about the option nobody writes about, because many households are choosing it by default — often because opening the mail has become hard, which is a common and human response rather than a failure.

If nothing is done, the disconnection proceeds on your utility's schedule rather than the agency's. Restoring service usually adds a reconnection fee and can require a deposit. The balance keeps growing, and unpaid arrears can follow you to a new address or a new account. Protections tied to weather, a household member's age, or a documented medical condition generally have to be claimed rather than applied automatically, and they vary by state and by utility. And if a local application window closes while you wait, it may not reopen for months — Indiana's closed on April 20, 2026, and the agency does not expect it to reopen before the fall.

None of that is a judgment. It is the honest comparison point for every option on this page, and it is the reason an application filed today with a gap in it usually beats a complete one filed after the window shuts.

What happens after you apply

After submission, the agency may request more information, schedule an interview or callback, approve the application, deny it, or hold it while funding is resolved. Every notice matters: read each one the day it arrives, note any deadline it states, and add it to your tracker. Missing a document-request deadline is one of the most common — and most preventable — ways an otherwise eligible application fails.

How payment usually works. Approved benefits are often paid directly to your utility or fuel vendor, or credited to your account, rather than sent to you as a check — federal law expressly allows payments to home energy suppliers on behalf of eligible households. The benefit may cover part of your balance rather than all of it, and the amount is set by your local program's current benefit design. Keep paying what you can while you wait, and confirm with your utility that a pending or applied benefit is reflected on your account.

If nothing happens. Contact the exact office processing your file and ask three questions: is my application complete, is anything pending on my side, and when should I expect a decision? Timelines belong to the grantee, not the federal program, and they can be long — Indiana tells applicants its Local Service Providers may take up to 55 days to determine eligibility, and a utility up to 30 days more to apply an awarded benefit to an account. Yours will differ; ask for the number your office works to. If the agency does not act with reasonable promptness under its own rules, ask how to escalate — the same fair-hearing route that covers denials generally covers unreasonable delay. Arkansas states this directly on its application form, which tells applicants they may appeal a decision they consider improper, any delay in a decision or in delivery of services, and any disagreement with a benefit amount.

If you are denied or the amount seems wrong. Start with the notice: it states the reason and the procedure. If the issue is a missing or unclear document, ask whether you can supplement the file. If you disagree with the decision, federal law requires that programs give applicants an opportunity for a fair administrative hearing. There is no single national appeal deadline: yours is set by your grantee and printed on your notice, is usually short, and generally cannot be extended once it passes — which is why the notice needs reading the day it arrives. A denial is also not a verdict on you: fixable causes — a missing document, an income period counted differently than you expected, or timing outside a window — are worth ruling out first, and each has a concrete next step. Your tracker is your best tool here, because it shows what you submitted and when. If the situation is complicated — or the stated reason does not match your records — your local legal aid organization can help at no charge.

Next season. LIHEAP is not an automatically recurring monthly benefit. Most households need to apply again in a new season or program year, and local rules, benefit levels, and funding can change between years. Note your program's usual opening period in your tracker so next year starts on time.

If LIHEAP is closed, unavailable, or not enough

A closed window or an exhausted fund is discouraging, but it is not the end of the road. These routes are legitimate, free to pursue, and worth working in parallel.

Route	What it does	Cost	How fast it can move	What it does not solve	How to start
Your utility provider	Payment arrangements, hardship funds, budget billing, and any medical or weather-related policy the company runs	Free to ask; an arrangement spreads what you owe	Often the same call	It does not reduce the amount owed	Call the number on your bill and ask for the terms in writing
211	Refers you to local utility funds, shelter, and warming or cooling options	Free	Same day for a referral; the fund's own timeline after that	Availability is local and not guaranteed	Call 211 or use the 211 utilities page
Your state utility regulator	Explains and enforces the shutoff protections that apply in your state, including weather, age, and medical-condition rules	Free	Same day for an answer; longer for a formal complaint	It does not pay your bill	Search for your state's public utility or public service commission, or ask 211 for it by name
Weatherization Assistance Program	Reduces future bills through efficiency work on your home	Free to eligible households	Months; often a waiting list	It is not immediate bill payment	Start from USA.gov's energy help page
Local community action agency or charity	Local funds that may be active when LIHEAP is not	Free to apply	Days to weeks, depending on the fund	Funds are limited and may already be committed	Ask the administering agency and 211 which funds currently have money
Adult protective services	Helps when someone is controlling an older adult's utility account or money, or when a "grant" caller has targeted them	Free	Intake is immediate; investigation takes longer	It is not a bill-payment program	Call 211 and ask for adult protective services in your area
Broader assistance	Covers the other strained lines in a budget	Free	Varies by program	It does not resolve a shutoff on its own	Check other government assistance, or use emergency financial and local help
Taking no action	Nothing changes on your side of the account	Free now; more expensive later	The utility's schedule, not yours	Anything — see the section above	—

When you call your utility, come with a number you can realistically pay each month and ask what arrangement fits it — a concrete offer usually gets a more concrete answer than a general request for help. Three things are worth asking by name:

• Does the company run a hardship fund of its own, and would this account qualify?
• Would budget billing smooth the seasonal spikes here?
• What happens to this arrangement if an assistance payment lands on the account later?

If it helps to have the words ready before you dial: "My account number is ___. I have a disconnection notice dated . I can pay $ a month starting ___. I applied for energy assistance through ___ on ___. What arrangement can you set up, and can you hold the disconnection while that application is pending?" Ask for the representative's name and for the arrangement in writing, and note both in your tracker before you hang up.

Whatever combination you use, keep the LIHEAP thread alive: ask your local office when the next window opens, whether crisis funds remain even though regular assistance is closed, and whether you can be notified when applications resume.

Frequently asked questions

Does LIHEAP pay the whole electric bill?

Do not count on it. Benefit design varies by program, and many pay a portion of a bill or apply a fixed amount to your account — often sent straight to the utility or fuel vendor rather than to you. This is the four-layer rule again: the grantee designs the benefit, not the federal agency, so your local program's current rules decide the amount. Keep paying what you can until the benefit is confirmed on your account.

Can renters apply, including when utilities are included in rent?

Often, yes — renters are eligible in many programs, and some also serve households whose utilities are included in rent. How rent-included energy costs are counted, whether a lease or landlord verification is requested, and how a utility allowance or reimbursement is treated all differ by program. Describe your situation to the local intake office and let it apply its own rules rather than assuming you are excluded.

Can I still apply if my service is already disconnected?

Yes — contact your local LIHEAP office right away, describe the disconnection specifically, and ask for a crisis screening. Call your utility and 211 the same day. Approval and restoration are not guaranteed, and reconnection can also involve utility fees and vendor scheduling, so working every channel at once gives you the best chance of a fast resolution.

How long does LIHEAP take after I apply?

There is no reliable national timeline, and the agency-stated ones belong to individual grantees. Your clock is set by the slowest dependency: a complete application, the documents your office requests, any interview or verification step, current agency workload, and whether you meet your program's crisis criteria, which carry faster federal assurances for eligible households. Only the agency's determination is final — track every notice and respond to requests immediately.

Is applying for LIHEAP free?

Yes, always. The official application through your state, tribal, or local agency is free, and the federal program charges no fee for receiving a benefit. No one legitimate will charge you to file or promise approval for a price — Money Hope Now does not file applications, paid or otherwise. If someone offers you a "LIHEAP grant" for a fee, report it to the HHS Fraud Hotline at 1-800-447-8477.

Your next step

Open the official LIHEAP office locator, find the agency that serves your address, and read its current page for the application window and document list before you do anything else. If you cannot get online, call NEAR at 1-866-674-6327 or dial 211 and ask them to point you to the right office. If a shutoff is scheduled or your service is off, call your utility and that office today, ask for a crisis screening, and ask your state's utility commission what already protects your account. Then save your confirmation and track every notice — a complete, documented application through the official free route is the strongest move available to you, and the local agency's decision is the one that counts.

Sources and last verified date

Last verified: August 2, 2026

Next review: October 2026, before the FY2027 heating season

• Get help with energy bills — USA.gov — National LIHEAP scope, official application routing, the Weatherization Assistance Program pathway, and the caveat that utility shutoff protections vary by state. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) — HHS Administration for Children and Families — Federal program scope (energy bills, crises, weatherization, minor energy-related repairs), the EnergyHelp.us application route and its available languages, the NEAR referral line, and the official no-fee notice with the HHS Fraud Hotline. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• LIHEAP Resource Guide for Finding Energy Assistance — HHS Administration for Children and Families — Confirms that many states run the program under a different name, including HEAP, and that crisis components are often named separately. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• 42 U.S.C. § 8623 — State allotments — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School — Statutory crisis-intervention assurances: some form of assistance within 48 hours for eligible crisis applicants and within 18 hours in eligible life-threatening situations. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• 42 U.S.C. § 8624 — Applications and requirements — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School — Federal income bounds (150% of the poverty guideline or 60% of state median income, with no income-only exclusion under 110%), the categorical eligibility category, vendor-payment authority, and the fair-administrative-hearing requirement. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• 45 CFR Part 96, Subpart H — Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations — Annual alignment of income criteria by October 1 or the start of the state fiscal year, the state median income adjustments by household size (§ 96.85), and the exemption from crisis performance standards in a declared disaster or emergency (§ 96.89). Accessed August 2, 2026.
• LIHEAP office search tool — LIHEAP Clearinghouse — Official locator for state, territory, tribal, and local LIHEAP offices. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Get Help With Your Energy Bills — LIHEAP Clearinghouse — National Energy Assistance Referral line, TTY number, and referral email address. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Utilities assistance — 211 / United Way — Local referral route for utility help and the contact-your-utility guidance. Accessed July 21, 2026.
• LIHEAP — Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment — Arkansas example: program open status at the access date, community-based-organization intake across 75 counties, typical January–April and July–September application periods, the statement that the state energy office does not process applications, and the no-fee notice. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Arkansas LIHEAP application form (AEO-9495) — Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment — Arkansas crisis triggers including the 20%-of-tank and three-week fuel thresholds, the medical-condition crisis questions, the 18-hour and 48-hour disposition fields, the four-week income-proof period, the lease requirement and utility-subsidy caveat for rent-included households, and the stated appeal rights covering decisions, delay, and benefit amount. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Arkansas state profile — LIHEAP Clearinghouse — Arkansas FY2026 income eligibility basis and component program dates. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• LIHEAP — District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment — District example: closure to new LIHEAP applications, the June 3, 2026 processing cutoff, and the redirect to the Utility Discount Program. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• District of Columbia state profile — LIHEAP Clearinghouse — District FY2026 income eligibility basis and the year-round crisis listing noted as a source conflict. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Energy Assistance Program — Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority — Indiana example: program name, 60% state median income basis measured on three months of income, April 20, 2026 closure with fall reopening, the stated 55-day determination and 30-day utility posting timelines, and the Indiana Code 8-1-2-121 disconnection moratorium for eligible applicants from December 1 through March 15. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Protections for Responsible Utility Customers — Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission — Pennsylvania example: the December 1 to March 31 winter moratorium, the 10-day termination notice and its 60-day validity, the prohibition on termination before weekends and holidays, and medical certification terms and duration. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Summer utility disconnection moratorium notice — Arizona Corporation Commission — Arizona example: the June 1 to October 15, 2026 summer moratorium enforced by the Commission and the statement that bills are neither paused nor forgiven. Accessed August 2, 2026.
• Disconnection rules — Arizona Residential Utility Consumer Office — Arizona example: the two compliance options available to regulated electric utilities, either the seasonal moratorium or a forecast-temperature threshold. Accessed August 2, 2026.