Montana Heating Assistance: LIHEAP

Q: What is heating assistance called in Montana?

Montana runs the federal program as Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered by Montana Department of Public Health and 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 Montana actually needs.

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

Applications run October 1 to April 30. The agency's own words: "You may apply for LIHEAP during the heating season, which is October 1 through April 30 of each year, by contacting the local eligibility office or Tribal LIHEAP office serving your community."

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

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

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

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services runs Weatherization Assistance Program, which is the companion to the bill payment side. Its own words: "The Weatherization Assistance Program helps participants to improve the heating efficiency of their homes and thus reduce their energy consumption."

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

Both, in the way that matters to a household. The money is a federal block grant; Montana Department of Public Health and 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.

LIHEAP

What it is called here

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Oct 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 Montana, in one screen

LIHEAP

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Run by: Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, delivered by local eligibility offices (Human Resource Development Councils) and Tribal LIHEAP offices
The season: Applications run October 1 to April 30.
The income test: The test is For households of one through eight, 60 percent of the state median income; for households of ten or more, 150 percent of the poverty threshold. Resource limits apply as well, and a household on SNAP, SSI or TANF may qualify automatically., measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn.
How to apply: Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services takes applications local eligibility office, tribal liheap office and printed application delivered or mailed.

Montana Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services

You may apply for LIHEAP during the heating season, which is October 1 through April 30 of each year, by contacting the local eligibility office or Tribal LIHEAP office serving your community.

Montana Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

A payment toward winter energy bills, set from an award matrix that varies by heating fuel and number of bedrooms, published by the department for the 2026-2027 program year.

Who qualifies

The LIHEAP income test in Montana

The test is For households of one through eight, 60 percent of the state median income; for households of ten or more, 150 percent of the poverty threshold. Resource limits apply as well, and a household on SNAP, SSI or TANF may qualify automatically., 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.

Eligibility for assistance is based on your income and resource limits. Both homeowners and renters may apply for these programs.

Montana Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

If you cannot wait

The crisis route in Montana

The program can also help with a furnace emergency for an eligible household.

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 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) pays part of winter energy bills and may be able to assist with furnace emergencies for eligible people.

Montana Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Montana Department of Public Health and 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 Montana also stops the utility disconnecting

Once the household files, Nov 1 to Apr 1

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

Next winter

Making the house cheaper to heat in Montana

Montana runs Weatherization Assistance Program through Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. 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 helps participants to improve the heating efficiency of their homes and thus reduce their energy consumption.

Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Weatherization Assistance Program in Montana

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.

Montana heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Montana?

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Montana?

What is the income limit for LIHEAP in Montana?

The test is For households of one through eight, 60 percent of the state median income; for households of ten or more, 150 percent of the poverty threshold. Resource limits apply as well, and a household on SNAP, SSI or TANF may qualify automatically., measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn. Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services puts it this way: "Eligibility for assistance is based on your income and resource limits. Both homeowners and renters may apply for these programs."

How does a household apply in Montana?

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

Does Montana also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

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

Is heating assistance in Montana 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

Montana winter shutoff rulesWhether Montana 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.

Montana read September 23, 2026 from Montana Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Montana Department of Public Health and 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.