Energy Assistance Programs: LIHEAP, Weatherization, and Crisis Help

Energy assistance programs help households pay heating and cooling bills and make homes cheaper to run over the long term. The two main federal programs are the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which pays part of your utility bill, and the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which pays for insulation, air sealing, and heating system repairs. Most households qualify if their income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, and households already receiving SNAP, SSI, TANF, or certain veterans’ pensions generally qualify automatically.

What LIHEAP Pays For

LIHEAP is federally funded but locally run. Congress sends money to states, tribes, and territories, and those grantees pay benefits directly to your utility company or fuel vendor. You don’t get a check.¹

The program covers three kinds of help:

A regular heating or cooling benefit applied to your account during the season. Some states run heating and cooling as separate benefits; some issue supplements when extra funding is available.
Crisis assistance for shutoff notices, disconnections, empty fuel tanks, and other emergencies.
Repair or replacement of a broken furnace, boiler, or other heating equipment.¹

Benefit amounts vary a lot depending on where you live, your income, household size, and energy costs. Some states cap regular heating benefits in the low hundreds; others provide well over a thousand dollars.

What Weatherization Covers

The Weatherization Assistance Program, run by the U.S. Department of Energy, pays for physical upgrades that lower how much energy your home uses.² A trained crew inspects the home and picks the improvements that will save the most. Typical work includes:

Wall, attic, floor, and foundation insulation
Air sealing, verified with blower-door testing
Cleaning, tuning, repairing, or replacing furnaces, boilers, and air conditioners
Repairing or replacing primary windows and installing storm windows
Insulating water heaters and pipes, and replacing inefficient units
Testing combustion appliances and installing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms³

WAP is free to qualifying households and the work is permanent, so you don’t reapply for the same upgrades each year. Wait times are often long because demand exceeds funding, so it’s worth applying early.

Who Qualifies

Income Limits

Federal law sets the maximum income cutoff at the greater of 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines or 60 percent of state median income. Most states use 150 percent of the poverty guidelines. No state can turn away a household with income below 110 percent of the poverty level.⁴

For 2026, the federal poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states are:⁵

1 person: $15,960 (150% = $23,940)
2 people: $21,640 (150% = $32,460)
3 people: $27,320 (150% = $40,980)
4 people: $33,000 (150% = $49,500)
5 people: $38,680 (150% = $58,020)

Add $5,680 per additional person in the contiguous states. Alaska and Hawaii use higher guidelines.⁵

Automatic Eligibility Through Other Benefits

If anyone in your household receives one of these benefits, the whole household can qualify without a separate income calculation:

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Certain veterans’ pension payments⁴

Categorical eligibility skips the income check, but the actual benefit amount still depends on household size, energy costs, and your state’s formula.

Citizenship

LIHEAP eligibility is limited to U.S. citizens and qualified non-citizens. Qualified non-citizens include lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, people paroled into the country for at least one year, and citizens of Compact of Free Association countries (the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau).⁶ Non-citizens outside those categories are not eligible for LIHEAP, though state-funded programs may still be available.

Renters in Subsidized Housing

If you live in subsidized housing and pay your own energy bills, federal law prohibits an automatic denial. Your benefit may be reduced to account for any utility allowance built into your rent, and states handle that offset in different ways.⁷ If your rent already includes all utilities and you pay nothing out of pocket for energy, you generally won’t qualify.

When to Apply

LIHEAP is not open year-round in every state. Heating assistance in many states opens around October 1 and closes by late March or April. Cooling assistance, where offered, often runs from May through September. A few states keep applications open year-round; some have windows as narrow as ten days.⁸

Most states pay on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the state’s allocation is spent, applications stop being accepted regardless of the posted closing date. Applying as soon as your window opens matters more than waiting until you have a shutoff notice.

Crisis assistance often has separate dates and may run year-round even when regular benefits do not. You can check your state’s schedule through the LIHEAP Clearinghouse at liheapch.acf.hhs.gov or by calling your local Community Action Agency.

Documents to Have Ready

Requirements vary by state, but nearly every agency asks for the same core records:

A government-issued photo ID for the applicant. Many states also ask for Social Security numbers for all household members, though federal law does not require this as a condition of eligibility. If your state asks and a household member doesn’t have one, ask the agency about alternative verification.⁹
Proof of income for everyone 18 and over: recent pay stubs, Social Security award letters, unemployment statements, pension documents, or a zero-income declaration. Most agencies want the most recent 30 days.
A current utility bill showing the account number, provider, and recent balance or usage. For propane or heating oil, bring receipts or delivery records.
Proof of address, such as a lease, mortgage statement, or utility bill in your name.
A list of everyone living in the home, sometimes with ages or relationship documentation.

The application also asks for your primary heating source (gas, electric, oil, propane, wood) and whether utilities are included in your rent. Twelve months of billing history helps the agency assess your energy burden.

How to Apply

Applications go through your local administering agency, not a federal office. In most areas that’s the Community Action Agency serving your county, though some states route applications through a Department of Social Services or similar state office.¹⁰ The LIHEAP Clearinghouse keeps a searchable directory at liheapch.acf.hhs.gov.

Most agencies accept applications online, by mail, or in person. Bring copies rather than originals. Expect several weeks between submission and a decision. If approved, the payment goes directly to your utility company or fuel vendor. If denied, the agency must notify you in writing with the reason.

Crisis Help When You Can’t Wait

If you’ve received a shutoff notice, already lost service, run out of fuel, or your heating system has failed, ask specifically about crisis assistance. It runs on a faster timeline than the regular program.

Many states require crisis applications to be processed within 48 hours. When the situation is life-threatening, such as loss of heat in freezing weather or loss of power for someone on medical equipment, states often use an 18-hour response window. Agencies can waive normal documentation requirements when verifying them would delay a response.⁸

Crisis benefits can cover shutoff prevention, reconnection fees, emergency fuel delivery, and heating system repair or replacement. Grantees must provide crisis energy assistance through at least March 15 each year, and many extend it year-round.¹

State Shutoff Protections

Separate from LIHEAP, most states have laws restricting when utilities can disconnect service. Forty-two states have cold-weather disconnection protections, 19 have hot-weather protections, and 44 prohibit disconnection for vulnerable populations such as elderly residents, households with young children, or people with serious medical conditions. These rules kick in based on calendar dates or temperature thresholds.¹¹

These protections generally apply to utilities regulated by your state’s public utility commission. Municipal utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and deliverable fuel providers like propane companies often fall outside these rules, which makes LIHEAP crisis assistance especially important for households that heat with propane or oil.

A shutoff moratorium delays disconnection but doesn’t erase the debt. The balance keeps growing. Applying for LIHEAP during the protection period is more useful than waiting until the moratorium lifts and the shutoff notice arrives.

If Your Application Is Denied

Every state running a LIHEAP program must give applicants the chance to request a fair administrative hearing if the application is denied or not acted on within a reasonable time.⁴ Your denial notice should explain how. Common denial reasons include income slightly over the threshold, missing documentation, or applying outside the open dates.

If you were denied for missing paperwork, you can often reapply with the correct documents instead of going through a formal appeal. If you think the income calculation was wrong, such as counting someone who no longer lives with you, a hearing is the right path. Agencies must generally help you through the appeal if you ask.

Other Places to Look

Many utility companies run their own low-income discount or assistance programs independent of federal funding. Names vary, but they commonly offer a percentage discount on monthly bills for qualifying customers. Call your utility and ask about low-income rate programs, budget billing, or hardship funds.

A few other options worth knowing about:

Nonprofit emergency funds through organizations like the Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul, and local churches can fill gaps when LIHEAP isn’t available or runs out.
Payment plans with the utility won’t reduce what you owe, but they can prevent disconnection while you catch up.

Stacking programs is common. A household might get a LIHEAP heating benefit, enroll in a utility discount for ongoing monthly savings, and eventually receive weatherization to lower consumption permanently. Qualifying for one does not disqualify you from the others.

1
Administration for Children and Families. LIHEAP Fact Sheet
2
Department of Energy. About the Weatherization Assistance Program
3
Department of Energy. Whole-House Weatherization
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 8624 – Applications and Requirements
5
HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
6
Administration for Children and Families. Changes to LIHEAP Eligibility for Citizens of Countries Governed by the Compacts of Free Association
7
LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Subsidized Housing and LIHEAP
8
LIHEAP Clearinghouse. State and Territory LIHEAP Program Duration
9
Administration for Children and Families. LIHEAP IM HHS Guidance on the Use of Social Security Numbers and Citizenship Status Verification
10
USAGov. Get Help With Energy Bills
11
LIHEAP Clearinghouse. Disconnect Policies