A Massachusetts household that earns too much for ordinary fuel assistance may still get help with an oil bill this winter. Gov. Maura Healey’s office announced on Oct. 5 a new benefit of up to $680 for about 50,000 middle-income households, and it sits on top of the state’s regular heating aid, which begins taking applications Nov. 1.

Who the $680 benefit is for

The state’s Middle-Income Heating Oil Relief page sets two tests. A household has to heat with #2 home heating oil, and its gross income has to be more than 60 percent but less than 100 percent of the state median income. The page calls the payment a one-time emergency benefit and says “up to $680,” so $680 is a ceiling and not a guaranteed amount.

The income limits are listed by household size for the state’s 2027 fiscal year. For one person, the range runs from $53,586 to $89,308. For two people it is $70,074 to $116,788, and for three it is $86,562 to $144,268. A family of four falls between $103,050 and $171,749. Households of five run from $119,537 to $199,227, and six people from $136,025 to $226,707.

Homes heated by gas, electricity or propane are not part of this benefit, according to the page’s description of the oil requirement. Households with incomes below the 60 percent line are already in the regular fuel assistance program, discussed below.

When the money becomes available

Nothing can be applied for yet. The state page says applications “will open in December 2026,” and it says the interest form on the page “is not the application.” The form is a way to be notified when the program opens. The Healey administration’s announcement says the benefit is available from December through April 30, 2027, or until the money runs out.

The page names “additional state funds” as the source, and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities as the contact. It gives no phone number or deadline other than the end-of-season date, and it does not say how payments will be made.

Older homeowners who burn oil face a winter in which the $680 benefit opens in December and the regular heating aid opens Nov. 1. The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit pulls together heating, cooling and home-repair help for older homeowners, so the help available to a household sits in one place.

Get the heating, cooling and home-repair help in the Home-Cost Relief Kit →

The regular heating aid that starts Nov. 1

The Home Energy Assistance Program, known as HEAP, runs from Nov. 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027, the governor’s announcement says. The release puts current support at about $525 to $1,200 per household. It adds that households heating with oil get 20 percent more and households with utility-heated homes get 15 percent more, according to the announcement’s description.

The state is also adding $15 million to HEAP, the announcement says. HEAP is aimed at lower-income households, and the new oil benefit is aimed at the group just above it. A household does not have to choose between them on the information the state has posted, though it has not said how the two programs will interact for a household whose income sits near the line.

The rest of the winter package

The $680 benefit is one piece of a larger announcement about energy costs. The release says the state will cover about $80 million in SMART solar program charges for January through March 2027, so those costs are not passed on to residential customers. It also says a charge tied to the state’s alternative energy portfolio standard will be cut 50 percent this winter, a reduction of about $20 million.

Two items are asks rather than actions. The governor proposed cutting the gas tax by 24 cents for two months, worth about $120 million, and she is asking Congress for $3 billion to $7 billion more in federal LIHEAP money, the national heating-aid program that HEAP draws on. Neither is in effect, and the state’s benefit does not depend on either one.

A fund through Citizens Energy of $100,000 is also part of the package, according to the announcement. The release gives the fuller list, and the oil benefit is the piece with a dollar figure for individual households.

What is still unannounced

Several points are open. The application process for the oil benefit has not been published, and neither has the proof of income a household will have to show. The state has not said whether the amount will vary by household size or by how much oil a home uses, only that the top is $680. With about 50,000 households expected to receive it, the average payment cannot be worked out until the funding total is posted.

The money can also run out. The announcement says the benefit runs to April 30 “or until funds run out,” so a household that applies late in the winter could find the money gone before the season ends.

Lining up for the December opening

The free first step is the state’s Middle-Income Heating Oil Relief page, where the interest form lets a household ask to be notified when applications open. The announcement on Mass.gov is where any change to the dates or amounts would be posted. Households that fall below the 60 percent line should go through the regular HEAP application, which opens Nov. 1.

Before applying to either program, it helps to gather proof of the household’s gross income for the past year, the most recent oil delivery bill, and a list of everyone living in the home, since the income limits depend on household size. Comparing the household’s total against the table above shows which program it belongs in.

The state has said little about the process, so the interest form and the HEAP application are the two steps that are open to take now.

Two oil-aid dates, Nov. 1 and December

An oil bill can outrun a household’s savings in one cold month, and the help comes from different programs on different dates. The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit covers heating, cooling and home-repair help for older homeowners, in a 64-page kit with the utility and home-cost programs in Part 5 and the yearly routine in Part 7.

Open the Home-Cost Relief Kit before oil season gets expensive →

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.