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Hawaii calls it H-HEAP, and it opens Jun 1

Hawaii Heating Assistance: H-HEAP

Hawaii Department of Human Services, Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, with applications taken by the Community Action Agency serving each island runs the federal heating grant in Hawaii. Applications run June 1 to June 30. Hawaii Department of Human Services takes applications community action agency serving your island.

H-HEAP
What it is called here
Hawai`i Home Energy Assistance Program (H-HEAP)
Jun 1
The season opens
through Jun 30
Set locally
The income limit
the agency publishes a rule rather than a figure
Yes
Crisis component
a separate, faster application
The answer

Heating assistance in Hawaii, in one screen

H-HEAP

Hawai`i Home Energy Assistance Program (H-HEAP)

Run by
Hawaii Department of Human Services, Benefit, Employment and Support Services Division, with applications taken by the Community Action Agency serving each island
The season
Applications run June 1 to June 30.
The income test
Hawaii Department of Human Services does not publish a single income figure for the program on its own page.
How to apply
Hawaii Department of Human Services takes applications community action agency serving your island.
By phone
855-643-1643

Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program (H-HEAP), Hawaii Department of Human Services, Benefit, Employment & Support Services

The Hawai`i Home Energy Assistance Program (H-HEAP) provides heating and/or cooling assistance to eligible Hawai`i households by assisting with a one-time payment towards their electric or gas bill.
Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program (H-HEAP), Hawaii Department of Human Services, Benefit, Employment & Support Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

A one time payment sent straight to the utility company toward an electric or gas bill; a household takes only one type of H-HEAP payment per program year, which runs October 1 through September 30, and the applicant must still have an active utility account when the funds post. Eligible households are also referred to the utility's Tier Waiver Provision for 12 months.

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Who qualifies

The H-HEAP income test in Hawaii

Hawaii Department of Human Services does not publish a single income figure for the program on its own page.

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 you cannot wait

The crisis route in Hawaii

Energy Crisis Intervention is taken year round for a household whose electric or gas service has been or will be disconnected and that has a disconnection notice from the utility, though the number of approvals each month is limited.

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 Intervention (ECI) assists needy households in crisis, the electric or gas service has been or will be disconnected, as the household has been notified via a disconnect notice from the utility company. Applications for ECI are accepted year-round, but the number of approvals each month is limited, and spots fill quickly.
Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program (H-HEAP), Hawaii Department of Human Services, Benefit, Employment & Support 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 Hawaii 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 Hawaii Public Utilities Commission’s own words, is on the Hawaii winter shutoff page.

Hawaii heating assistance questions

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
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Heating assistance in other states

Hawaii winter shutoff rulesWhether Hawaii 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.

Hawaii read September 23, 2026 from Hawaii Home Energy Assistance Program (H-HEAP), Hawaii Department of Human Services, Benefit, Employment & Support 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.