utilitiesstateYou appear to qualify

Winter Heating Help — No Veteran Route, and VA Benefits Count Against You

Applications run 1 November to 30 April, the income ceiling is 60% of state median income, and the payment goes straight to the heating vendor. There is no veteran category — and the department counts veterans' benefits as household income.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: A payment to your heating vendor, once per season, sized by fuel cost and income

The human services department states the programme is federally funded and helps eligible households pay a portion of their winter home heating costs.
Applications are accepted from 1 November through 30 April, and assistance may be received only once each season.
Household income must not exceed 60% of the state median income level, released by the federal health department in April 2026 for the 2026-27 season.
The department publishes maximum gross monthly income by household size for the 2026-2027 season: $3,774 for one person, $4,936 for two, $6,097 for three, $7,258 for four, $8,420 for five, $9,581 for six, $9,799 for seven, $10,017 for eight, and rising to $11,541 for fifteen.
The applicant must pay home heating costs either directly to a utility company or to a landlord as part of rent, and must provide proof of lawful presence for household members born outside the country.
The applicant must reside in the dwelling stated on the application.
In most cases the payment is sent directly to the primary heating fuel company, with a letter to the household stating the amount and where it went.
The benefit amount varies with the primary heating costs of the home, total household income, programme funding and the number of applications received; the department states it pays the highest benefits to those with the highest primary heating fuel costs.
The programme also repairs or replaces a home's primary heating system such as a furnace or wood-burning stove, but provides nothing towards portable or temporary heaters.
Most non-emergency applications are processed within 10 to 25 days; a household about to be shut off or running out of propane may have an application expedited in as little as 10 days.
The department instructs applicants to attach proof of other income including veterans' benefits — so a veteran's benefit payments are counted as household income for the means test.
No veteran category, veteran priority or veteran-specific route appears anywhere in the department's eligibility material read this session.

Who is entitled to it

Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.

How to claim it

Deadline: 30 April

1Apply as early in the season as you can. Assistance is once per season, funding is finite, and the queue lengthens as winter goes on.
2Declare the veterans' benefits. The department names them among the income to be proved, and an application that omits them is an application that gets sent back for information.
3Attach the most recent heating bill — or, if heat is in the rent, the most recent rent receipt. Incomplete applications are the department's own stated cause of delay.
4Say so if the heat is about to go off or the propane is running out. That is the trigger for the expedited 10-day route.
5Keep paying the bill while the application is pending. The department says so directly, and a shutoff during processing is not undone by an approval afterwards.
6Do not buy a portable heater expecting help with it. The programme funds repair or replacement of the primary heating system and nothing temporary.

Form: Application online, by post, or at a county human services office
File with: Your county heating assistance office
Annual: Claimed once a year.

CorrectionVeteran-specific utility discounts mostly do not exist, and this state is a clear case. What exists is assistance that pays part of the bill on an income test — and the veteran's own compensation is counted in that income, which can push a household over the line rather than helping it under.

Worth knowingThe income table above is the 2026-27 season and is reissued every April. Any figure older than a season is wrong, and a household refused last winter on the old table may be inside this one.

Sources

authority · published policyDepartment of Human Services — Low-income Energy Assistance Program
operating · published policyDepartment of Human Services — Older adult services

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.