The Department of Health and Human Services has released $3.6 billion in heating aid to states for fiscal 2027, the first money for the federal energy-bill program in the new budget year. The amount equals 90% of the annualized total available for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP. The other 10% is still waiting on further funding from Congress.
The release, announced October 13 by HHS’s Office of Community Services, puts money in state hands as winter approaches. For households that struggle with a heating bill, the practical question is whether their state is taking applications and when.
What HHS released and what is still pending
The public power trade group that tracks the program, the American Public Power Association, reported the $3.6 billion release on October 13. The money comes under the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027, a stopgap spending law known as Public Law 119-103.
The report says the stopgap did not specifically provide for early release of LIHEAP money. Without a release like this one, funds would have trickled out month by month on a pro rata basis. The 90% share lets states plan for the winter, but the final 10% depends on whether HHS keeps operating under a stopgap through the year.
The money flows to states, territories and tribes, and from there to local community action agencies that take applications from households.
Is heating help open in this state yet?
That is the question most older households are holding, and the answer differs by state. LIHEAP is not a check mailed to everyone. It is a federal program that helps households pay heating bills, avoid shutoffs and reconnect service, according to the HHS Administration for Children and Families LIHEAP page. States set their own dates and local agencies take the applications.
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The same federal page says LIHEAP can also pay for cooling help, repair or replacement of heating equipment, and minor energy-related home repairs. It also says LIHEAP charges no fee for benefits, and that anyone offered a LIHEAP grant for payment should report it to the HHS fraud hotline at 1-800-447-8477.
How two states are handling it
Iowa’s Utilities Commission says households with a resident age 60 or older, a resident with a disability, or a household in housing crisis could apply starting October 1, 2026. Other income-eligible renters and homeowners can apply starting November 1, and applications close April 30, 2027. The household income limit is 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.
The Iowa notice also says the stopgap law maintains LIHEAP funding at fiscal year 2026 levels, which means the new release does not by itself raise what Iowa has to spend. Between November 1 and April 1, electric and natural gas utilities observe a disconnection moratorium for qualifying customers, and customers who tell their provider they are applying get a 30-day stay of disconnection.
Illinois announced a $240 million program. Governor JB Pritzker’s office says the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, led by Director Kristin Richards, opened applications October 1 for adults 60 and older, people with disabilities, families with children five or younger, and households facing disconnection. Everyone else who is income-eligible can apply starting November 1, and applications stay open through August 13, 2027, or until funds run out.
Illinois sets its limit at two times the federal poverty level, with 30-day gross income caps of $3,990 for one person and $5,410 for two. Last year’s Illinois LIHEAP funding helped 360,500 households, an average of $676 each.
How to find the right office
Anyone outside those two states can start with the federal page. It points people to the federal EnergyHelp website and to the National Energy Assistance Referral hotline at 1-866-674-6327, open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern. Each state, territory and tribe runs its own application, so the local community action agency is the usual first stop.
Older adults often get first access. In both Iowa and Illinois, people 60 and older and people with disabilities can apply a month before everyone else, so a household that waits until November may be behind a line that formed in October.
What the release does not settle
The last 10% has been slow before. For fiscal 2026, the American Public Power Association reported that the remaining 10% of LIHEAP funds, roughly $421 million, was disbursed to states on April 20, 2026, late in the heating season. The same report says the administration has once again proposed eliminating LIHEAP funding in its fiscal 2027 budget request, while House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, a Republican from Oklahoma, opposes that.
The $3.6 billion tells households that money exists. It does not say how much any one household will get, when a state will run out, or whether the remaining 10% will arrive. In Illinois, applications close when funds run out, and the Iowa notice says funding is flat with last year.
That makes timing the main thing a household controls. An application filed during the first weeks, with income records and a recent utility bill ready, is in front of an agency that still has money to spend.
Is heating aid open in this state this winter?
A household that misses the first weeks can find the money gone. Illinois says applications close when funds run out, and the 10% of LIHEAP still pending leaves states working with what they have.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit covers heating, cooling and home-repair help for older homeowners, alongside an application log and renewal calendar. Its Part 5, “Utilities and Home Costs,” sets out the help available for heat and power bills.
Get the heating-bill help guide and application log for this winter →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
