New Hampshire Heating Assistance: FAP
New Hampshire Department of Energy, delivered under contract by local Community Action Agencies runs the federal heating grant in New Hampshire. New Hampshire Department of Energy publishes no fixed opening date for the season. New Hampshire Department of Energy takes applications community action agency appointment.
Heating assistance in New Hampshire, in one screen
Fuel Assistance Program (FAP)
- Run by
- New Hampshire Department of Energy, delivered under contract by local Community Action Agencies
- The season
- New Hampshire Department of Energy publishes no fixed opening date for the season.
- The income test
- The test is Gross household income at or below 60 percent of the New Hampshire state median income, with the applicant's primary residence in New Hampshire., measured against the state median income, so the qualifying figure moves with what households in that state actually earn.
- How to apply
- New Hampshire Department of Energy takes applications community action agency appointment.
- By phone
- (603) 271-3670
The Fuel Assistance Program is New Hampshire's arm of the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) which is funded through the US Department of Health and Human Services. While the Department of Energy administers the program, the on-the-ground work is done by local Community Action Agencies with whom the Department contracts.Fuel Assistance Program, NH Department of Energy, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
A grant toward heating costs that does not have to be paid back, calculated from household income, energy costs, the region's heating degree days and housing type, so the lowest income households with the highest energy costs get the most.
The FAP income test in New Hampshire
The test is Gross household income at or below 60 percent of the New Hampshire state median income, with the applicant's primary residence in New Hampshire., 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 income eligibility threshold for the Electric Assistance Program, the Fuel Assistance Program, and the Weatherization Assistance Program is currently established at 60% of the New Hampshire State Median Income (SMI).Fuel Assistance Program, NH Department of Energy, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
The crisis route in New Hampshire
The program can act in a heating emergency by arranging an emergency fuel delivery, delaying a shutoff notice, or referring the household elsewhere.
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 Fuel Assistance Program can also help households during a heating emergency by securing an emergency delivery of fuel, delaying a shut-off notice, or referring clients to another source of assistance.Fuel Assistance Program, NH Department of Energy, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Whether New Hampshire also stops the utility disconnecting
November 15 to March 31
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 New Hampshire Department of Energy’s own words, is on the New Hampshire winter shutoff page.
Making the house cheaper to heat in New Hampshire
New Hampshire runs Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) through New Hampshire Department of Energy. 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 State of New Hampshire's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) is designed to reduce household energy use and costs in the homes of low-income persons throughout the state by installing energy efficiency improvements.New Hampshire Department of Energy, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
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.
New Hampshire heating assistance questions
Heating assistance in other states
New Hampshire read September 23, 2026 from Fuel Assistance Program, NH Department of Energy, 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.