Georgia calls it LIHEAP, and it opens Dec (first workday)

Georgia Heating Assistance: LIHEAP

Q: What is heating assistance called in Georgia?

Georgia runs the federal program as Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered by Georgia 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 Georgia actually needs.

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

Applications open Dec (first workday). That is the date as the agency describes it rather than a fixed calendar day. The agency's own words: "The LIHEAP Heating Program typically begins the first workday of December each year for residents aged 65 and older or medically homebound. All other eligible residents may apply for assistance beginning the first workday in January of the following year."

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

Georgia Public Service Commission sets a separate rule on that, and its short form is: At or below 32F, Nov 15 to Mar 15. In several states the two are linked, because receiving assistance is itself what switches the disconnection protection on. The winter shutoff page for Georgia carries the rule.

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

Both, in the way that matters to a household. The money is a federal block grant; Georgia 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.

Q: Where does Georgia publish its own heating assistance rules?

On Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Georgia Division of Family & Children Services, which is the page every figure here was read from. Georgia Department of Human Services is the agency to go back to when a date or a threshold changes, because a state can move either between program years.

Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Family & Children Services runs the federal heating grant in Georgia. Applications open Dec (first workday). Georgia Department of Human Services takes applications community action agency.

LIHEAP

What it is called here

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

About Dec (first workday)

The season opens

and runs while funds last

60%

The income limit

of state median income

Yes

Crisis component

a separate, faster application

The answer

Heating assistance in Georgia, in one screen

LIHEAP

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Run by: Georgia Department of Human Services, Division of Family & Children Services
The season: Applications open Dec (first workday).
The income test: The test is gross annual household income at or below 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: Georgia Department of Human Services takes applications community action agency.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Georgia Division of Family & Children Services

The LIHEAP Heating Program typically begins the first workday of December each year for residents aged 65 and older or medically homebound. All other eligible residents may apply for assistance beginning the first workday in January of the following year.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Georgia Division of Family & Children Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

The agency describes the program as a one time payment toward home energy costs administered through Community Action Agencies and served first come, first served; it prints no benefit amount for this program year.

Who qualifies

The LIHEAP income test in Georgia

The test is gross annual household income at or below 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.

The applicant's total gross annual household income needs to be at or below 60% of the State's Median Income.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Georgia Division of Family & Children Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

If you cannot wait

The crisis route in Georgia

An energy crisis component serves households facing a life threatening heating or cooling emergency.

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.

Energy crisis assistance to households experiencing heating or cooling emergencies that are life threatening

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Georgia Division of Family & Children 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 Georgia also stops the utility disconnecting

At or below 32F, Nov 15 to Mar 15

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 Georgia Public Service Commission’s own words, is on the Georgia winter shutoff page.

Georgia heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Georgia?

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Georgia?

What is the income limit for LIHEAP in Georgia?

How does a household apply in Georgia?

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

Does Georgia also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

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

Where does Georgia publish its own heating assistance rules?

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

Georgia winter shutoff rulesWhether Georgia 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.

Georgia read September 23, 2026 from Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Georgia Division of Family & Children 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.