Virginia Heating Assistance: EAP

Q: What is heating assistance called in Virginia?

Virginia runs the federal program as Energy Assistance Program (EAP), administered by Virginia Department of Social 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 Virginia actually needs.

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

Applications run Oct (2nd Tuesday) to Nov (2nd Friday). That is the date as the agency describes it rather than a fixed calendar day. Virginia Department of Social Services publishes the season on its own program page.

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

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

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

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

EAP

What it is called here

Energy Assistance Program (EAP)

About Oct (2nd Tuesday)

The season opens

through Nov (2nd Friday)

150%

The income limit

of federal poverty level

Yes

Crisis component

a separate, faster application

The answer

Heating assistance in Virginia, in one screen

EAP

Energy Assistance Program (EAP)

Run by: Virginia Department of Social Services
The season: Applications run Oct (2nd Tuesday) to Nov (2nd Friday).
The income test: The test is gross monthly income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, plus a heating or cooling expense, measured against the federal poverty level, so the qualifying figure is the same in every state that uses it and moves only with household size.
How to apply: Virginia Department of Social Services takes applications online, by phone, local department of social services and paper form.
By phone: 855-635-4370

Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Virginia Department of Social Services

The Energy Assistance Program (EAP) helps low-income households meet their immediate home energy needs. EAP has four components: Fuel Assistance - Offsets heating fuel costs Crisis Assistance - Helps with heating emergencies Cooling Assistance - Helps with cooling bills and equipment Weatherization Assistance - Improves energy efficiency and reduces costs

Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Virginia Department of Social Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Fuel Assistance offsets home heating costs for households responsible for heating bills; eligibility notices are sent in late December. No dollar figure is printed on the agency page.

Who qualifies

The EAP income test in Virginia

The test is gross monthly income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, plus a heating or cooling expense, measured against the federal poverty level, so the qualifying figure is the same in every state that uses it and moves only with household size.

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.

Have a gross monthly income at or below 150% of the federal poverty level

Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Virginia Department of Social Services, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

If you cannot wait

The crisis route in Virginia

Crisis Assistance covers heating emergencies such as no heat, a cut off notice or unsafe equipment, and can pay for equipment repair or replacement, fuel, primary heat utility bills or security deposits.

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.

Application window: Nov 1 - Mar 15 (equipment/security deposits); Jan - Mar 15 (fuel/utility bills)

Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Virginia Department of Social 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 Virginia also stops the utility disconnecting

At or below 32F

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 Virginia State Corporation Commission’s own words, is on the Virginia winter shutoff page.

Next winter

Making the house cheaper to heat in Virginia

Virginia runs Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) through Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. 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 (WAP) reduces household energy use through the installation of cost-effective energy savings measures, which also improve resident health and safety. Common measures including sealing air leaks, adding insulation, and repairing heating and cooling systems. WAP does not offer assistance with paying utility bills.

Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in Virginia

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.

Virginia heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Virginia?

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Virginia?

What is the income limit for EAP in Virginia?

How does a household apply in Virginia?

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

Does Virginia also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

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

Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development runs Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which is the companion to the bill payment side. Its own words: "The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) reduces household energy use through the installation of cost-effective energy savings measures, which also improve resident health and safety. Common measures including sealing air leaks, adding insulation, and repairing heating and cooling systems. WAP does not offer assistance with paying utility bills."

Is heating assistance in Virginia 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

Virginia winter shutoff rulesWhether Virginia 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.

Virginia read September 23, 2026 from Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Virginia Department of Social 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.