Minnesota Heating Assistance: Energy Assistance Program

Q: What is heating assistance called in Minnesota?

Minnesota runs the federal program as Energy Assistance Program, administered by Minnesota Department of Commerce. 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 Minnesota actually needs.

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

Applications run October 1 to May 31. The agency's own words: "The deadline to apply for Energy Assistance for the winter of 2026-2027 is May 31, 2027."

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

Minnesota Public Utilities Commission sets a separate rule on that, and its short form is: Once the household files, Oct 1 to Apr 30. In several states the two are linked, because receiving assistance is itself what switches the disconnection protection on. The winter shutoff page for Minnesota carries the rule.

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

Minnesota Department of Commerce runs Weatherization Assistance Program, which is the companion to the bill payment side. Its own words: "The Weatherization Assistance Program provides free home energy upgrades to income-eligible homeowners and renters to help save energy and make sure your home is a healthy and safe place to live."

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

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

Energy Assistance Program

What it is called here

Energy Assistance Program

Oct 1

The season opens

through May 31

50%

The income limit

of state median income

Yes

Crisis component

a separate, faster application

The answer

Heating assistance in Minnesota, in one screen

Energy Assistance Program

Run by: Minnesota Department of Commerce
The season: Applications run October 1 to May 31.
The income test: The test is 50 percent of state median income for households of 1 to 18 people, and 110 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for households of 19 or 20, measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn.
How to apply: Minnesota Department of Commerce takes applications online, by mail and local service provider.
By phone: 1-800-657-3710

Energy Assistance Program, Minnesota Department of Commerce

The deadline to apply for Energy Assistance for the winter of 2026-2027 is May 31, 2027.

Energy Assistance Program, Minnesota Department of Commerce, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

The Department of Commerce says the program is free and pays benefits of up to 1,400 dollars, that initial benefits average 500 dollars per household, and that payments go straight to the utility or fuel provider rather than to the household.

Who qualifies

The Energy Assistance Program income test in Minnesota

The test is 50 percent of state median income for households of 1 to 18 people, and 110 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for households of 19 or 20, 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.

Based on 50% of State Median Income (SMI) for household sizes 1-18 and on 110% of Federal Poverty Guidelines for household sizes 19-20.

Energy Assistance Program, Minnesota Department of Commerce, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

If you cannot wait

The crisis route in Minnesota

On top of the regular grant the program pays additional emergency grants of up to 600 dollars to stop a disconnection, get heat and power back on after one, or cover an emergency propane, heating oil or biofuel delivery, and homeowners with a broken furnace may get repair or replacement help.

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.

The Energy Assistance Program provides up to $600 in additional grants for eligible Minnesotans who need help: Preventing disconnection, Getting reconnected to heat and power after disconnections, Paying for emergency fuel deliveries of propane, heating oil or biofuel

Energy Assistance Program, Minnesota Department of Commerce, 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 Minnesota also stops the utility disconnecting

Once the household files, Oct 1 to Apr 30

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

Next winter

Making the house cheaper to heat in Minnesota

Minnesota runs Weatherization Assistance Program. 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 Assistance Program provides free home energy upgrades to income-eligible homeowners and renters to help save energy and make sure your home is a healthy and safe place to live.

Minnesota Department of Commerce, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Weatherization Assistance Program in Minnesota

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.

Minnesota heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Minnesota?

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Minnesota?

What is the income limit for Energy Assistance Program in Minnesota?

The test is 50 percent of state median income for households of 1 to 18 people, and 110 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for households of 19 or 20, measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn. Minnesota Department of Commerce puts it this way: "Based on 50% of State Median Income (SMI) for household sizes 1-18 and on 110% of Federal Poverty Guidelines for household sizes 19-20."

How does a household apply in Minnesota?

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

On top of the regular grant the program pays additional emergency grants of up to 600 dollars to stop a disconnection, get heat and power back on after one, or cover an emergency propane, heating oil or biofuel delivery, and homeowners with a broken furnace may get repair or replacement help. The agency's own words: "The Energy Assistance Program provides up to $600 in additional grants for eligible Minnesotans who need help: Preventing disconnection, Getting reconnected to heat and power after disconnections, Paying for emergency fuel deliveries of propane, heating oil or biofuel"

Does Minnesota also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

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

Is heating assistance in Minnesota 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

Minnesota winter shutoff rulesWhether Minnesota 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.

Minnesota read September 23, 2026 from Energy Assistance Program, Minnesota Department of Commerce, 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.