Colorado Heating Assistance: LEAP

Q: What is heating assistance called in Colorado?

Colorado runs the federal program as Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), administered by Colorado Department of Human Services. 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 Colorado actually needs.

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

Applications run November 1 to April 30. Colorado Department of Human Services publishes the season on its own program page.

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

Colorado Public Utilities Commission sets a separate rule on that, and its short form is: At or below 32F. In several states the two are linked, because receiving assistance is itself what switches the disconnection protection on. The winter shutoff page for Colorado carries the rule.

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

Colorado Energy Office runs Colorado's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which is the companion to the bill payment side. Its own words: "Our Weatherization Assistance Program helps income-qualified Coloradans save money, increase comfort, and improve their homes and the environment with proven energy conservation solutions."

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

Both, in the way that matters to a household. The money is a federal block grant; Colorado Department of Human Services 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.

LEAP

What it is called here

Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP)

Nov 1

The season opens

through Apr 30

60%

The income limit

of state median income

Yes

Crisis component

a separate, faster application

The answer

Heating assistance in Colorado, in one screen

LEAP

Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP)

Run by: Colorado Department of Human Services
The season: Applications run November 1 to April 30.
The income test: The test is 60 percent of the state median income, measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn.
How to apply: Colorado Department of Human Services takes applications online, at a county office, by phone, by mail and by email.
By phone: 1-866-432-8435

Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), Colorado Department of Human Services

The Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) is a federally funded program that helps eligible hard-working Colorado families, seniors and individuals pay a portion of their winter home heating costs. ... The LEAP program works to keep our communities warm during the winter (November through April) by providing assistance with heating costs, equipment repair and/or replacement of inoperable heating tools.

Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), Colorado Department of Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

The benefit is paid in most cases straight to the household's primary heating fuel supplier, and the amount varies with heating fuel cost, household income, program funding and the number of applications received. LEAP also repairs or replaces a broken primary heating system, but pays nothing toward portable or temporary heaters.

Who qualifies

The LEAP income test in Colorado

The test is 60 percent of the state median income, measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn.

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.

If your income is up to 60% of the state median income level, you may qualify for heating assistance through LEAP.

Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), Colorado Department of Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

If you cannot wait

The crisis route in Colorado

A household facing a shut off or running out of fuel can have its application expedited, and the year round Crisis Intervention Program repairs or replaces a broken primary heating system.

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.

My heat is about to be shut off or I am running out of propane. Can LEAP help? Yes. If you qualify for assistance, LEAP may be able to expedite your application in just 10 days.

Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), Colorado Department of Human Services, 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 Colorado also stops the utility disconnecting

At or below 32F

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 Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s own words, is on the Colorado winter shutoff page.

Next winter

Making the house cheaper to heat in Colorado

Colorado runs Colorado's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) through Colorado Energy Office. 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.

Our Weatherization Assistance Program helps income-qualified Coloradans save money, increase comfort, and improve their homes and the environment with proven energy conservation solutions.

Colorado Energy Office, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Colorado's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in Colorado

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.

Colorado heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Colorado?

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Colorado?

What is the income limit for LEAP in Colorado?

How does a household apply in Colorado?

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

Does Colorado also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

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

Is heating assistance in Colorado 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

Colorado winter shutoff rulesWhether Colorado 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.

Colorado read September 23, 2026 from Colorado Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP), Colorado Department of Human Services, 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.