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Energy Assistance Pays a Household With a Veteran an Extra $50

The state energy assistance plan builds its benefit from stacked add-ons on a $200 base, and a household with at least one veteran receives an additional $50 toward the total non-emergency energy benefit. The maximum non-emergency heating benefit is $850.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

The state energy assistance plan builds its benefit from stacked add-ons on a $200 base, and a household with at least one veteran receives an additional $50 toward the total non-emergency energy benefit. The maximum non-emergency heating benefit is $850.

What it's worth: $50 added to the household’s non-emergency energy benefit

  • The plan states an eligible household may receive a base non-emergency energy benefit of $200, and that a household with at least one veteran may receive an additional $50 toward the total non-emergency energy benefit.
  • Other add-ons published alongside it are elderly $75, disabled $50, income at or below 30% of state median income $175, a child aged five or under $50, a demonstrated energy burden of 20% or more of income $175, and heating with fuel $75.
  • The maximum non-emergency heating assistance a household may receive is $850.
  • Vulnerable-population priority is defined as a member who is elderly (60 or older), disabled, or a young child (five or under) — veteran status is a benefit add-on, not a priority category.

Who is entitled to it

  • The add-on attaches to the household, so anyone in it can be the applicant.
  • Your home is in South Carolina.

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.

How to claim it

Deadline: Set locally; heating-season applications open first
  1. 1Say on the application that the household includes a veteran, and be ready to show it. Nobody will infer it, and the $50 is only added if the household is recorded as having one.
  2. 2Apply to the Community Action Agency for your county. The state office states plainly that it does not hold or accept applications.
  3. 3Add up the add-ons before you decide it is not worth the trip: $200 base, plus $50 for the veteran, plus whatever else the household matches — elderly, disabled, a young child, deep low income, a high energy burden, heating with fuel.
  4. 4Ask specifically about the fuel add-on if you heat with propane, oil or wood. The plan treats fuel-heating households separately, and names them again in a category alongside veterans and extremely low incomes.
  5. 5Bring the DD Form 214 for the veteran in the household along with the ordinary income and bill documents.
  6. 6The ceiling on non-emergency heating help is $850. Crisis assistance is handled separately — ask about it if you have a disconnection notice.
Form
The local energy assistance application
File with
The Community Action Agency serving your county — the state office does not take applications
Documents you will need
dd214
Annual
Claimed once a year.
Worth knowingThis is one of very few veteran routes into utility help anywhere in this corpus, and it is not on any veterans page — it lives in the energy plan, in a benefit matrix, beside the add-on for heating with fuel.
Known gapThe plan does not define "veteran" for this purpose, and does not say whether the add-on applies once per household or per veteran. Ask the local agency before assuming either.

Sources

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