Alaska Heating Assistance: HAP

Q: When can a household apply for heating assistance in Alaska?

Applications run October 1 to April 30. The agency's own words: "The Division of Public Assistance's Heating Assistance Programs (HAP) help low-income eligible Alaskans stay warm by covering some home heating costs. Applicants may receive a one-time benefit annually."

Q: Does Alaska also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

Regulatory Commission of Alaska sets a separate rule on that, and its short form is: No winter window. In several states the two are linked, because receiving assistance is itself what switches the disconnection protection on. The winter shutoff page for Alaska carries the rule.

Q: Is there help making the house cheaper to heat in Alaska?

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation runs Weatherization Program, which is the companion to the bill payment side. Its own words: "The weatherization provider will provide program services at no cost to qualified applicants."

Q: Is heating assistance in Alaska a state program or a federal one?

Both, in the way that matters to a household. The money is a federal block grant; Alaska Department of Health decides what it is called, when it opens, who is eligible and what it pays. Across the states compiled here that produces 18 program names and 8 different opening months, so the answer is a state answer even though the funding is federal.

HAP

What it is called here

Heating Assistance Program (HAP), covering the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Alaska Affordable Heating Program (AAHP)

Oct 1

The season opens

through Apr 30

150%

The income limit

of federal poverty level

Yes

Crisis component

a separate, faster application

The answer

Heating assistance in Alaska, in one screen

HAP

Heating Assistance Program (HAP), covering the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Alaska Affordable Heating Program (AAHP)

Run by: Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance
The season: Applications run October 1 to April 30.
The income test: The test is LIHEAP covers households with income up to 150 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines and the state funded AAHP covers households above that and up to 225 percent, against maximum monthly income limits the division publishes by household size for the 2026-2027 season; the household must also have at least 200 dollars a year in out of pocket heating costs., measured against the federal poverty level, so the qualifying figure is the same in every state that uses it and moves only with household size.
How to apply: Alaska Department of Health takes applications online through the alaska connect portal, in person at a public assistance office, by mail, by fax and by email.
By phone: 800-478-7778

Heating Assistance Program (HAP), Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance

The Division of Public Assistance's Heating Assistance Programs (HAP) help low-income eligible Alaskans stay warm by covering some home heating costs. Applicants may receive a one-time benefit annually.

Heating Assistance Program (HAP), Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

A one time benefit a season, paid as a credit to the household's approved heating fuel or electric heat vendor rather than to the household; a household takes one benefit per season from Heating Assistance, Crisis Assistance or the Subsidized Rental Housing Utility Deposit.

Who qualifies

The HAP income test in Alaska

The test is LIHEAP covers households with income up to 150 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines and the state funded AAHP covers households above that and up to 225 percent, against maximum monthly income limits the division publishes by household size for the 2026-2027 season; the household must also have at least 200 dollars a year in out of pocket heating costs., measured against the federal poverty level, so the qualifying figure is the same in every state that uses it and moves only with household size.

Income is counted gross rather than after tax, and the household is everyone living at the address rather than everyone on the lease. Most states count the last thirty days or the last twelve months, not last year’s tax return, which means a household whose hours were cut in October can qualify in November on a year that looks too high on paper. Apply and let the agency do the arithmetic rather than ruling yourself out.

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for households with income up to 150% of the federal poverty income guidelines. LIHEAP is funded by the federal government.

Heating Assistance Program (HAP), Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

If you cannot wait

The crisis route in Alaska

Crisis Assistance is taken from September 1 through June 30 and pays a vendor directly when a household is out of primary heating fuel or within 48 hours of running out, when heating fuel or electric service has been disconnected or is within 48 hours of disconnection, or when an eviction for nonpayment of rent arrives where heat is included in an unsubsidized rent.

A crisis application and a regular one are different transactions on different clocks. A household with a disconnection notice, an empty tank or a dead furnace should start with this one, say plainly on the call what the emergency is, and have the notice or the delivery ticket to hand.

Applications for crisis assistance are accepted September 1st through June 30th

Heating Assistance Program (HAP), Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

A white residential propane tank standing on a concrete pad beside a mown yard, with bare trees and a wooded ridge behind it — For a household on propane or heating oil the benefit usually arrives as a delivery to a tank like this one rather than as a credit on a bill, which is why a state that pays vendors directly will ask which dealer you use before it asks anything else. “Propane Tank - panoramio”, Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0

The other half

Whether Alaska also stops the utility disconnecting

No winter window

The two are separate: a heating grant is money and a shutoff rule is a restriction on the company. In several states an approved grant application is itself what satisfies the filing the shutoff rule asks for, which makes applying worth doing even for a household that thinks the grant will not cover much. The full rule, with Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s own words, is on the Alaska winter shutoff page.

Next winter

Making the house cheaper to heat in Alaska

Alaska runs Weatherization Program through Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. It pays for the insulation and the air sealing rather than the bill, which is the only part of this that lowers next winter as well as this one.

The weatherization provider will provide program services at no cost to qualified applicants.

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Weatherization Program in Alaska

In most states a household approved for the heating grant is automatically income eligible for weatherization, so the same paperwork does both. The waiting list is usually long and the work is usually free, which is a combination worth joining early rather than in the week it is needed.

Alaska heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Alaska?

Alaska runs the federal program as Heating Assistance Program (HAP), covering the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Alaska Affordable Heating Program (AAHP), administered by Alaska Department of Health. 18 different program names appear across the states compiled here, which is why a search for the federal acronym often misses the page a household in Alaska actually needs.

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Alaska?

What is the income limit for HAP in Alaska?

The test is LIHEAP covers households with income up to 150 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines and the state funded AAHP covers households above that and up to 225 percent, against maximum monthly income limits the division publishes by household size for the 2026-2027 season; the household must also have at least 200 dollars a year in out of pocket heating costs., measured against the federal poverty level, so the qualifying figure is the same in every state that uses it and moves only with household size. Alaska Department of Health puts it this way: "Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for households with income up to 150% of the federal poverty income guidelines. LIHEAP is funded by the federal government."

How does a household apply in Alaska?

What happens if the heat is about to go off this week in Alaska?

Crisis Assistance is taken from September 1 through June 30 and pays a vendor directly when a household is out of primary heating fuel or within 48 hours of running out, when heating fuel or electric service has been disconnected or is within 48 hours of disconnection, or when an eviction for nonpayment of rent arrives where heat is included in an unsubsidized rent. The agency's own words: "Applications for crisis assistance are accepted September 1st through June 30th"

Does Alaska also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

Is there help making the house cheaper to heat in Alaska?

Is heating assistance in Alaska a state program or a federal one?

Icicles hanging in a row from the eaves of a low brick apartment building against a clear blue sky, with a balcony rail at the right edge — A renter whose heat is bundled into the rent can still qualify in most states, and is among the least likely to apply. Where a state sets its income test against the federal poverty level rather than state median income, the line can sit twenty points apart for the same household. “Icicles on the eaves of a house in Quebec City”, Wilfredor, CC0

Heating assistance in other states

Alaska winter shutoff rulesWhether Alaska bars a winter disconnection, and what a household has to do.Winter shutoff rules by stateWhether a window, a forecast or a filing decides it where you live.Heating oil and propane pricesWhat the fuel costs this week in the states that report it.Firewood cutting permitsWhere a permit lets a household cut its own firewood.Heating assistance in every stateThe program names, the opening dates and the income tests side by side.

Alaska read September 23, 2026 from Heating Assistance Program (HAP), Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance, linked above. Opening dates, income limits and benefit amounts are set each program year and the agency can change them mid season, so the page linked above is the one that governs. Every state is on the heating assistance hub.