Last reviewed: September 7, 2026. Research date 31 August 2026. Benefit amounts, income limits and program rules on this page change every year — most of the New York figures below are for program year 2025-26 and are replaced around 1 November. This page is information, not an application, and GetEnergyRebates.com has no role in any of these programs. Nothing here is a determination of your eligibility.
If your electric or gas bill has gotten away from you, there is more help available than most people know about — and it is not all in one place, it does not all use the same rules, and almost none of it finds you on its own.
Three things are worth knowing before anything else.
Start here: the three things that change what you do today
1. If you get HEAP, your utility discount is automatic. Everything else, you apply for.
In New York, every large utility applies its Energy Affordability Program discount to any customer who receives a HEAP benefit — per the Department of Public Service's 2026 fact sheet, "regardless of fuel or benefit type." You do not fill anything out. The same fact sheet is equally clear about the other direction: all other income-eligible customers, including people already enrolled in public assistance programs, have to apply directly through their utility. Being on Medicaid or SNAP does not push you into the discount. A HEAP grant does.
So if you are eligible for HEAP and have not applied, that one application is doing more work than any other step available to you.
2. If you were dropped from New York's Energy Affordability Program last autumn, it was reversed.
No customer can be disenrolled from the Energy Affordability Program before 30 November 2026, and any customer disenrolled on or after 1 October 2025 must be re-enrolled with no action required from them. This came out of the emergency order of 13 November 2025, made permanent on 4 February 2026, after the 43-day federal shutdown froze LIHEAP funds and New York postponed HEAP enrollment. Utilities estimated that more than 97,000 customers would otherwise have been automatically disenrolled. The eligibility lookback was also extended from 12 months to 18.
If you received a notice last autumn saying your discount was ending, that notice was overtaken by the order. It is worth calling the number on your bill and confirming the discount is showing.
3. "I get SNAP, so I qualify" is wrong in specific ways — and the wrong assumption sends you to the wrong office.
The categorical eligibility lists genuinely contradict each other between programs, including between two programs run by the same state agency. SNAP gets you New Jersey fuel assistance but not Massachusetts fuel assistance. SSI gets you New Jersey weatherization but not New Jersey LIHEAP — same department, opposite answer. There is a full cross-check table further down this page. Read it before you assume a benefit you already receive carries over.
New York
What actually exists in New York, in the order it matters
- HEAP — the Home Energy Assistance Program. Income-tested seasonal help with heating costs, administered by your county Department of Social Services (in New York City, by HRA). This is the application that unlocks the rest.
- The Energy Affordability Program (EAP) — a monthly credit on your utility bill. Automatic if you receive HEAP; by application otherwise.
- The Expanded Energy Affordability Program (EEAP) — a newer, separate, higher-income-limit program. Never automatic. You register yourself.
- EmPower+ — NYSERDA's no-cost home energy improvements for income-eligible households.
- Shutoff protections under HEFPA — rights you have whether or not you are enrolled in anything.
Notably absent: there is no statewide arrears forgiveness program in New York. More on that below, because the internet will tell you otherwise.
Do I qualify? The New York income limits
For program year 2025-26, eighteen of the programs in the state's own catalogue — including HEAP, EmPower+, the Energy Affordability Programs at National Grid, Central Hudson, NYSEG and RG&E, the O&R low-income credit, Solar for All, Project SHARE, Care & Share, Project Warmth, the Neighborhood Heating Fund and the Good Neighbor Fund — all use one identical income table:
| Household size | Monthly income | Annual income |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,473 | $41,685 |
| 2 | $4,542 | $54,512 |
| 3 | $5,611 | $67,338 |
| 4 | $6,680 | $80,165 |
| 5 | $7,749 | $92,991 |
| 6 | $8,818 | $105,817 |
| 7 | $9,018 | $108,222 |
| 8 | $9,218 | $110,627 |
| 9 | $9,419 | $113,032 |
| 10 | $9,619 | $115,437 |
| 11 | $9,820 | $117,842 |
| 12 | $10,020 | $120,247 |
| 13 | $10,221 | $122,652 |
| each additional | +$687 | +$8,250 |
Program year 2025-26 maximum income levels. Note the step at seven people — the increment drops sharply above six, so a large household should read its own line rather than assuming the pattern continues.
Be careful with a second table you may encounter. Some county HEAP pages publish Tier 1 and Tier 2 income bands, which decide which benefit tier you land in, not whether you qualify at all. Those bands are lower than the figures above. If your income sits between a county page's top band and the line above, you are still eligible — apply.
These figures are for the current program year and will be replaced. New York's program year runs 1 December to 30 November, and utilities file updated discount statements by 1 November to take effect 1 December. The 2026-27 numbers do not exist yet. If you are reading this after early November, ask for the new table rather than relying on this one.
Two things follow from that single shared table that are worth saying plainly:
Your ZIP code does not decide whether you meet the income test. The income threshold is keyed to household size. Location matters for a handful of programs and for which utility serves you, but not for the income line itself.
Meeting a categorical qualification overrides the income test. For the programs in that catalogue, receiving HEAP, SNAP, TANF, Medicaid (Medicare does not count), a Veteran's Disability Pension, or Weatherization Assistance is treated as qualifying without the income screen. That is how the state's tool handles it; the administering agency makes the actual determination.
Should I use the state's Energy Advisor tool?
Yes — start there. energyadvisor.ny.gov is run by NYSERDA with eight sponsoring utilities, and it is the closest thing to a single front door New York has. It is a ten-step wizard: owner or renter, your electric utility, heating type, gas utility, region, ZIP, monthly income, household size, and which assistance programs you already receive. It takes a few minutes and it costs nothing.
Set your expectations correctly about what comes out the other end. The result is a referral list, not a determination. You get program cards with links and a button to email the list to yourself. There is no tier assignment, no reference number, no document, and nothing you can show anyone. The honest framing is: check once, then still apply to each program separately.
Two gaps to work around. We drove the tool end to end and read its program catalogue, and there are two places where it will not show you something you may be entitled to:
- If you are a residential Con Edison customer, it will never show you an Energy Affordability Program. There is no Con Edison EAP entry in its catalogue at all — Con Ed customers are shown a generic payment-assistance link instead. Con Edison's published EAP discounts run from $33.47 to $189.83 per month depending on tier and service type. If you are a Con Ed customer, go to Con Edison directly and ask about the Energy Affordability Program by name.
- It shows the Expanded Energy Affordability Program only to Central Hudson customers, although seven utilities participate. If your utility is on the list below, register yourself at nyeeap.com rather than waiting for the tool to surface it.
Neither of these is a reason to skip the tool. They are reasons not to treat "nothing came back" as an answer.
The Energy Affordability Program discount, by utility
These are the discounts on file for program year 2025-26, stated as monthly amounts. Which tier applies to a given household is determined by the utility and the program — ask yours which tier you are in and why.
Con Edison — effective 1 February 2026. Two independent primary sources agree exactly.
| Tier | Electric heat | Electric non-heat | Gas heat | Gas non-heat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $33.47 | $33.47 | $135.24 | $3.00 |
| 2 | $80.58 | $50.66 | $167.01 | $3.00 |
| 3 | $126.21 | $73.47 | $189.83 | $3.00 |
| 4 | $121.84 | $71.29 | $187.65 | $3.00 |
Con Edison also eliminated reconnection fees for EAP customers entirely as of 1 February 2026, and is issuing monthly adjustment credits plus interest for a December–January underpayment.
Central Hudson — effective 1 December 2025. Tier 1: $67.99 electric heat / $67.99 electric non-heat / $34.28 gas heat / $3.00 gas non-heat, rising to Tier 3: $126.10 / $107.98 / $88.85 / $3.00.
National Grid (Niagara Mohawk, upstate) — effective 1 December 2025. Tier 1: $22.46 electric, $3.00 gas heat. Tier 3: $62.45 electric, $22.49 gas heat. Downstate, KEDNY and KEDLI are gas only — there is no National Grid electric EAP downstate.
NYSEG — effective 1 December 2025. Tier 1: $47.26 electric (heat and non-heat are identical), $3.00 gas heat. Tier 3: $88.99 electric, $28.64 gas heat. Tier 4: $86.16 / $26.45.
RG&E — effective 1 December 2025. Tier 1: $25.04 electric, $3.00 gas heat. Tier 3: $65.03 electric, $18.14 gas heat. Tier 4: $62.84 / $15.64.
NYSEG and RG&E are the only New York utilities with a Tier 4 (Direct Voucher / Utility Guarantee). Neither charges reconnection fees to known EAP participants, and neither disenrolled anyone on or after 1 October 2025.
PSEG Long Island — see the separate section below; its discount is filed as a daily rate, not a monthly one.
Orange & Rockland — O&R's figures are not settled and we are not publishing a number for it. The filed tariff and the utility's own November 2025 workbook state different Tier 1 electric amounts and the difference has not been reconciled in any source we could find. Ask O&R directly what your discount is.
Why so many of these say $3.00. There is a statewide $3.00 minimum discount floor. For gas non-heat service, the affordability formula frequently produces a number smaller than the floor, so the floor is what you get.
Program availability, incentive amounts, and eligibility requirements are subject to change. Contact your utility directly to confirm current program status, discount levels, and application procedures. Discounts shown are for program year 2025-26; updated statements take effect 1 December.
How you get enrolled depends on who your utility is
Most New York utilities receive a data-match feed from the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance that identifies HEAP recipients and enrolls them. Con Edison is the exception — uniquely among the large utilities, it does not take the OTDA feed, and works through New York City HRA and county Departments of Social Services instead.
Orange & Rockland has a clause worth knowing about. Its data match is written into its tariff and it explicitly covers customers whose HEAP grant went to an alternate fuel vendor. In plain terms: if you are an O&R electric customer who heats with oil or propane, and your HEAP benefit was paid to your fuel dealer rather than to O&R, you still get the electric discount automatically.
Central Hudson and National Grid both take the feed. National Grid's draws on OTDA, HHS and NYC HRA.
The 6% energy burden target, and what it actually means
You will see it stated everywhere that New York caps low-income energy bills at 6% of household income. That is the Public Service Commission's stated target — "an energy burden at or below 6% of household income" — and it is the number the discount formulas are aimed at.
It is not a ceiling on your bill, and the utilities say so in their own filings. The discounts are constrained by a program budget cap that binds before the target is reached. Orange & Rockland's filing states that the discounts it calculated were needed to bring EAP customers to an average energy burden of 6.5 percent, but that "the Company exceeded the 2% program budget revenue cap, therefore, discounts were adjusted to remain under the cap." Its November 2025 workbook shows a combined burden of 6.86% against a stated goal of 6.00%.
A July 2025 order raised that budget cap, which should push discounts closer to the target over time.
The practical version: 6% is what the program is aiming at, not what you are promised. If your bill after the discount is above it, nothing has gone wrong procedurally, and there is no appeal that gets you to 6%.
One exception. On Long Island, LIPA's Energy Affordability Guarantee Pilot (effective 1 January 2026) turns 6% into an actual trigger — see the PSEG Long Island section.
The Expanded Energy Affordability Program (EEAP) — separate, newer, and never automatic
EEAP is a two-year pilot that launched on 13 January 2026. It is a different program from EAP with a different income line, and the difference that matters most to you is procedural:
EEAP is self-registration only. It is never automatic, for anyone, under any circumstance. Register at nyeeap.com or call 877-400-2501.
- Income limits run to State Median Income — Area Median Income in New York City and Nassau County. This is a higher line than the HEAP table above, so households that are over the HEAP limit should still check.
- Enrollment term is 18 months, then you reapply.
- You cannot be in both EAP and EEAP. If you are already receiving the EAP discount, EEAP is not an additional benefit on top of it.
- Participating utilities: Central Hudson, Con Edison, National Fuel, National Grid, NYSEG, Orange & Rockland, RG&E. PSEG Long Island is not in it.
- Reconnection-fee waivers available to EAP enrollees are not extended to EEAP enrollees.
Tier numbers are not comparable between utilities. Central Hudson and Con Edison number the EEAP bands 5, 6 and 7. National Grid numbers the same three bands 7, 8 and 9. A "Tier 7 discount" figure is meaningless unless you also know which utility it came from. If someone quotes you a tier amount, ask which utility filed it.
What about my past-due balance? New York arrears, honestly
This is the part where the honest answer is worse than what you will find by searching, so here it is directly.
There is no statewide arrears forgiveness program in New York, and most New York utilities do not run one.
- Con Edison's tariff has an "Arrears Management Program," and it is not forgiveness. It is a cost-recovery surcharge mechanism that recovers the one-time COVID-era credits already issued. It does not forgive current balances.
- National Grid New York and Central Hudson have no arrears forgiveness program. National Grid's New York annual report contains no occurrences of "arrears" or "forgive" at all.
A trap worth naming. Searching "National Grid Arrears Management Program" returns a real program that forgives up to $12,000 a year. That is Massachusetts. It does not apply to any New York National Grid customer. The same company name covers two entirely different regulatory regimes.
NYSEG and RG&E are the exception, and it is a small one. Their Low Income Arrears Forgiveness program is real and accurately described elsewhere: $240 to $1,500 forgiven over a 36-month enrollment, automatic if you are already on the EAP basic benefit, have made three payments in the last 12 months, and have arrears in the qualifying range — Budget Billing is required. The reason to hold your expectations low is the enrollment: in December 2025, against roughly 89,000 NYSEG and 51,000 RG&E EAP participants, the forgiveness program had 15 and 2 participants respectively, with zero new enrollments. By July 2026 it was one and one. Ask about it, but do not build a plan on it.
What is actually available to you instead:
- Deferred payment agreements under 16 NYCRR §11.10, with capped down payments. Every utility must offer these.
- National Grid's Minimum Payment Agreement, at as little as $0 down and $10 a month. This is arranged by phone only, at 1-800-443-1837.
- Reconnection-fee waivers for EAP enrollees (not EEAP enrollees).
If you owe money and cannot pay it, the deferred payment agreement is the instrument that exists. Ask for it by name.
Can they shut off my heat? Your protections under HEFPA
New York's Home Energy Fair Practices Act — Public Service Law Article 2, §§30–53 — applies to you whether or not you are enrolled in any assistance program. These are the parts most worth knowing:
During the cold weather period, 1 November to 15 April, a utility must, at least 72 hours before terminating service, attempt a phone call during business hours, then a second call in the evening or on a weekend, then an on-site visit.
Service cannot be terminated if a resident is likely to suffer serious impairment to human health or safety. Where that is claimed, service continues for not less than 15 business days while it is investigated. This is the single most powerful provision in the act and it is underused. If someone in the household has a medical condition, is elderly, or is an infant, say so, and say it before the shutoff date rather than after.
Terminations may only occur between 8am and 4pm, Monday through Thursday, and never during the two weeks around Christmas and New Year.
There is no dollar minimum arrears threshold in the regulation. If someone quotes you a minimum balance below which you cannot be shut off, that number comes from a particular utility's tariff, not from the law — ask them to cite it.
There is no HEAP-specific termination moratorium in the regulations. Those protections exist in individual utility tariffs, and they vary. Con Edison's is the clearest: no termination on any day when the forecast high temperature including wind chill will not exceed 32°F — and that applies year-round, not just in winter.
If you rent
Renters qualify. Two conditions decide whether it actually reaches you:
There must be a utility account in a household member's name. Con Edison and National Grid both accept a benefit recipient whose name differs from the account holder, provided the address matches — so if the account is in your partner's or your adult child's name at the same address, that is workable.
Ask specifically how your HEAP benefit is delivered if your heat is included in rent. How the benefit reaches you can affect whether you are also enrolled in the utility discount, and the rules are not published consistently. Your county HEAP office can tell you which applies to your situation.
PSEG Long Island is different, but less different than it used to be
LIPA is a public authority and is not regulated by the Public Service Commission the way the other utilities are, so orders that bind them do not automatically bind it. Some practical consequences:
The tariff calls it the "Low Income Program Discount." "Household Assistance Program" is a customer-facing brand name only — searching the tariff for it returns nothing. Use the tariff name if you are trying to get a straight answer.
It is the only New York utility that files its discount as a daily rate, effective 1 January 2026:
| Tier | Discount per day |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1.55 |
| 2 | $2.20 |
| 3 | $2.70 |
| 4 | $2.45 |
Heat and non-heat are identical. Because the rate is daily, the amount on your bill moves with the length of your billing cycle — there is no filed monthly figure. PSEG Long Island's own site describes the benefit as "$45 or more" per month. If you see the state's Energy Advisor tool describe this program as "$20 or more every month," that figure is stale.
Enrollment is by application with documentation — there is no HEAP data-match feed. Documentation must be dated no earlier than 18 months before. Renewal is every 14 months, with a four-month grace period during which the discount continues.
PSEG Long Island did adopt the disenrollment pause. Although LIPA sat outside the PSC's ordering clauses, its filed tariff states that disenrollments are paused through 30 November 2026. If you are a PSEG LI customer who was told your discount was ending, the same correction applies to you.
There is no arrears forgiveness. "Forgive," "arrears management," "debt relief" and "amnesty" appear zero times in the 534-page tariff.
One thing PSEG Long Island has that nobody else does: LIPA's Energy Affordability Guarantee Pilot, effective 1 January 2026. A household enrolled in both the Low Income Discount and EmPower+, which is fully electrified for space and water heating, receives a monthly Guarantee Credit in any month when its electric bill net of discounts exceeds 6% of household income — for up to 15 years. This is the one place in New York where the 6% figure operates as a real trigger rather than a target.
PSEG Long Island is not in the EEAP, and its arrears programs are otherwise unconfirmed.
New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont
Coverage below is deliberately shorter — the equivalent program, who runs it, and the thing most likely to trip you up.
New Jersey
The program: LIHEAP (fuel assistance) and the Universal Service Fund (USF) discount, both run by the Department of Community Affairs, both on the same application through the DCAid portal. Weatherization is DCA as well; Comfort Partners is run through NJCEP.
Income limits — FY2027, published. Household of four: $98,602 (60% State Median Income), up from $96,165 in FY2026. Season runs 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2027, first-come first-served.
A live nj.gov page is materially wrong. The BPU's Universal Service Fund page states eligibility at 175% of the federal poverty level, an $1,800/year cap and a 1 November – 31 March season. All three contradict BPU's own current page and DCA's FY2027 fact sheet, and the page still carries unedited editorial markers in its body text. A separate BPU "Assistance Program Chart" PDF is a 2019 artifact. If a number you found on nj.gov does not match DCA's current fact sheet, the fact sheet is the one to trust.
Three different income tests in one state. Which one applies to you depends on which fund is paying:
| Program | Measure | Household of 4 |
|---|---|---|
| LIHEAP / USF | 60% State Median Income | $98,602 |
| Comfort Partners | 250% Federal Poverty Guideline | $82,500 |
| Weatherization (DOE-funded) | 200% Federal Poverty Guideline | $66,000 |
LIHEAP-funded weatherization uses the 60% SMI line instead of the 200% FPG line. Same work, different threshold, depending on the funding source.
Your fuel type sorts you. NJCEP routes oil, propane and kerosene households away from Comfort Partners and to DCA Weatherization. If you heat with oil and were told you did not qualify for Comfort Partners, that is why — and it is not the end of the road.
USF: a monthly credit, minimum $20/month, maximum $200/month for gas and electric combined.
Fresh Start arrears forgiveness is automatic — you cannot apply for it. It attaches at USF enrollment for qualifying balances, and forgives one-twelfth of your frozen arrears each month that you pay your current charges in full. The mechanic is confirmed; the specific balance threshold and the once-in-five-years restriction rest on a single source, so confirm those two details with DCA rather than relying on them here.
PAGE — for households in arrears and at risk of termination. Two tiers: low income to 60% SMI, capped at $500 per utility per year; moderate income to 100% SMI, capped at $700. PAGE has the broadest categorical eligibility list of any program on this page, including Medicaid — and presenting a benefit letter replaces income and ID documentation for the entire household.
Lifeline — $225/year, and it does not use household size at all: single filers under $54,943, married under $62,390. It is gated on being 65 or older, or receiving SSDI. It is applied for separately through NJSAVE, not through the DCAid portal — which is why people who complete the DCAid application still miss it. SSI recipients receive it automatically.
Massachusetts
The program: fuel assistance (LIHEAP) delivered by the LEAN network of Community Action Agencies, not by the utilities. Utility Program Administrators fund and co-administer weatherization; you apply through the same CAA office that handles fuel assistance.
Income limits — FY2027, published. 60% State Median Income, household of four: $103,049. Season 1 November 2026 – 30 September 2027; applications 1 October 2026 – 30 April 2027. Mass Save was still showing the FY2026 figure (household of four, $99,573) as of 31 August 2026 — if the number you are looking at is around $99,000, it is last year's.
Tiered low-income discount rates are not yet in effect statewide. Any material saying Massachusetts has statewide tiered rates today is ahead of the facts; the deadline for implementation is 1 November 2026. Currently:
- National Grid electric is the only tiered one: 32% / 43% / 57% / 64% / 71%. Tier 1 is by direct application. Tiers 2 through 5 require applying for LIHEAP through a CAP agency, which assigns the tier — so the deeper discounts are gated on the fuel assistance application.
- Eversource: 42% electric, 25% gas. Unitil: 40% electric, 25% gas, applied to both delivery and supply. National Grid gas: 25% flat.
There is no approved statewide per-tier percentage table. Eversource has proposed 25–92% on electric; it was not approved as of late August 2026.
Arrears: National Grid's Arrearage Management Program forgives up to 100% of past-due balances, up to $12,000 per year, for balances of $200 or more that are 60 or more days past due — and it is gated on being enrolled in the discount rate first. (The $300 threshold widely quoted is out of date.) This is the program that gets misattributed to New York; it is Massachusetts only.
Renters are eligible. Weatherization requires property-owner approval but no landlord money: for 1–4 unit rentals the standard offer is 100% off approved insulation with no landlord cost share. Buildings of 1–4 units go through Income Eligible; 5 or more units go to LEAN Multifamily, which tests 60% of Area Median Income rather than State Median Income and requires at least 50% of tenants to be eligible.
Do not source Massachusetts program status from mass.gov's Energy Burden page. It still reads that Phase II of the proceeding is underway and cites an August 2025 meeting. Two later orders exist — 24-15-C (1 April 2026) and the Phase II implementation order 24-15-D (30 June 2026), which decides eligibility, income verification, auto-enrollment and self-attestation.
Vermont
The program: Seasonal Fuel Assistance and Crisis Fuel, run by the Department for Children and Families, Economic Services Division. Weatherization is the Office of Economic Opportunity through local agencies. Efficiency Vermont runs the non-income-tested weatherization incentives.
Seasonal Fuel Assistance has no application season. Applications are accepted year-round; the deadline is the last day of February. Only Crisis Fuel has a window — for bulk fuel, the last Monday in November through the second Friday in April. If you have been waiting for an opening date, there isn't one.
Income limits — 2026-27, published, and unusually simple. Seasonal Fuel, the Green Mountain Power discount and the Vermont Gas discount all ride the same line: household of four, $5,088/month gross (185% of the federal poverty level). Crisis Fuel is higher, at $5,500/month (200% FPL). One table, three programs.
There is no publishable benefit amount for Seasonal Fuel, and that is not an oversight. Economic Services sets a "ratable" each season — a percentage of the calculated benefit — because funding is anticipated to be insufficient, and the ratable can change mid-season. It is a direct function of the federal LIHEAP allocation. Anyone quoting you a fixed Vermont seasonal fuel benefit is quoting a number that can move.
Weatherization uses a different income test entirely: 80% of area or state median income, whichever is higher. Not the federal poverty level, not 60% SMI. That is why the table is tiered by county. For PY 2025-26, household of four: Addison $92,900; Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle $103,850; the rest of the state $89,400. No 2026-27 weatherization table has been published — the source PDF has been unchanged since July 2025, so ask rather than assume.
Vermont's weatherization categorical list is narrow and specific. You qualify if you meet the income limits, or have active Seasonal Fuel Assistance, or receive SSI, or are an adult who received Reach Up in the past 12 months. Reach Up Child-Only does not count. 3SquaresVT and Medicaid are not qualifiers. There is also a rule that you cannot have received free weatherization in the past 15 years.
Landlords owe permission, not money. No cost share exists in statute. Instead, Vermont statute §2502(b)(3)(D) requires a rent stabilization agreement of at least one year — a rent restriction on the landlord, not a payment.
Utility discounts: Green Mountain Power 25%; Burlington Electric 12.5%, and BED is the only Vermont utility that auto-enrolls from the DCF fuel assistance list. Vermont Gas is reported at 20%, but that figure does not appear in any filed tariff sheet — it comes from utility and DCF statements only, so confirm it with VGS. Vermont Electric Co-op has no low-income rate; it has a community solar bill credit of $45/month for 60 months, which is a different thing and should not be counted on as a discount.
Efficiency Vermont's weatherization incentives were reduced on 1 July 2026. Low and moderate income now receive 75% of project cost up to $7,000; higher income 75% up to $3,000. Efficiency Vermont had publicly said the higher incentives would run through the end of 2026. Testimony attributes the change to funding: "Since 2022 we have relied almost exclusively on ARPA… ARPA funding ends in 2026 – customer incentives will decrease." Efficiency Vermont did not itself connect the date to the cause.
A carve-out worth checking before you assume the $7,000 figure applies to you. Vermont Gas and Burlington Electric customers are paid by their own utility instead of by Efficiency Vermont, at up to $9,500 for single-family and $10,000 for multifamily. Same state, different money, depending on who bills you.
One program with an annual window: ten VPPSA municipal utilities — Barton, Enosburg Falls, Hardwick, Jacksonville, Johnson, Ludlow, Morrisville, Northfield, Orleans and Swanton — offer a flat $29.55/month bill discount at or below 185% FPL. Enrollment for 2026 ran 7 April to 31 August and is now closed. If you are served by one of those utilities, watch for the spring window and apply at [email protected].
The eligibility lists contradict each other. Here is where.
This is the section that saves people a wasted trip. Categorical eligibility — qualifying automatically because you already receive another benefit — is not consistent between programs, and it is not consistent between two programs run by the same agency.
| If you receive | It qualifies you for | It does not qualify you for |
|---|---|---|
| SNAP | New Jersey LIHEAP — heating, cooling, crisis, and LIHEAP-funded weatherization. The Massachusetts utility discount rate. | Massachusetts fuel assistance. SNAP triggers only a $21 annual nominal benefit (H-EAT) issued through a data match — the FY27 plan states that all households, "including H-EAT recipients, must have their eligibility for regular HEAP assistance determined separately." Also does not qualify you for Vermont weatherization: 3SquaresVT is not a listed qualifier. |
| SSI | New Jersey Weatherization (WAP Manual Ch.1 §2.1 states it explicitly). Vermont weatherization. The Massachusetts utility discount rate. New Jersey Lifeline, automatically. | New Jersey LIHEAP — not for heating, cooling, crisis or weatherization funded through it. Two programs at the same department, opposite answers. Also not Massachusetts fuel assistance, crisis or weatherization. |
| Medicaid / MassHealth | New Jersey PAGE. The Massachusetts utility discount rate. New York — treated as a categorical qualifier in the state's program catalogue (Medicare does not count). | Vermont weatherization — Medicaid is not a qualifier there. It does not appear on the weatherization list in any of these four states. |
| TANF / TAFDC | New Jersey LIHEAP. New York — treated as a categorical qualifier. | Massachusetts fuel assistance, crisis, or weatherization. |
| Reach Up (VT) | Vermont weatherization — for an adult who received it in the past 12 months. | Reach Up Child-Only does not qualify. |
| HEAP (NY) | Your New York utility's Energy Affordability Program discount, automatically, regardless of fuel or benefit type. | It does not enroll you in EEAP — you cannot be in both. |
| Means-tested Veterans benefits | Massachusetts utility discount rate (Veterans Ch. 115). | Massachusetts fuel assistance, crisis, or weatherization. |
The Massachusetts utility discount rate has a much broader categorical list than Massachusetts fuel assistance does — it includes SNAP, SSI, TAFDC, MassHealth, WIC, Head Start, subsidized housing, school meals, Health Safety Net, Health Connector plans 1, 2 and 3A, and Veterans Chapter 115. The same household can be categorically eligible for the discount and not for fuel assistance. If you were turned down for one, that is not an answer about the other.
Where to go
New York. Apply for HEAP through your county Department of Social Services — in New York City, through HRA. HEAP contact is local, by county, and there is no single statewide number to call: the toll-free line that used to be published has been taken down. Search for your own county's HEAP office, or ask at any county DSS office. Then check energyadvisor.ny.gov for everything else, keeping the two gaps above in mind. If your utility is one of the seven EEAP participants and you are over the HEAP income line, register yourself at nyeeap.com. For anything about your own account, discount, or a shutoff notice, call the number printed on your bill and ask for the low-income or affordability team by name.
New Jersey. LIHEAP, USF and weatherization are one application through the DCAid portal at the Department of Community Affairs. Lifeline is separate — apply through NJSAVE.
Massachusetts. Everything routes through your local Community Action Agency in the LEAN network — fuel assistance, weatherization, and the tier assignment that determines your National Grid electric discount.
Vermont. Seasonal Fuel and Crisis Fuel through the Department for Children and Families, Economic Services Division — year-round for Seasonal. Weatherization through your local community action agency.
In every one of these states, the caseworker at the agency office can tell you things this page cannot: whether a specific program is currently funded, which tier you fall into, and what documentation they will accept from you. Call before you assume you do not qualify.
Eligibility is subject to income verification, household size, and funding availability. Benefit levels are set annually and may differ from amounts shown on this page. Contact the administering agency — your county HEAP office, your Community Action Agency, or your utility — directly to determine current benefit levels, eligibility, and application procedures. Most New York figures on this page are for program year 2025-26; program year 2026-27 discount statements are filed by 1 November and take effect 1 December.
IMPORTANT — PLEASE READ
This page is produced by GetEnergyRebates.com for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, financial advice, tax advice, or a guarantee of eligibility for any program described. Program availability, benefit amounts, eligibility requirements, application deadlines, and funding status are subject to change without notice.
All program details should be independently confirmed directly with the administering agency or utility before you rely on them. GetEnergyRebates.com is not an assistance agency, does not process applications, has no role in any determination described here, and is not a licensed attorney, financial advisor, or tax professional. Nothing on this page creates a professional advisory relationship.
Information on this page is current as of the research date noted at the top.