Wisconsin calls it Home Energy Plus, and it opens Oct 1

Wisconsin Heating Assistance: Home Energy Plus

Q: What is heating assistance called in Wisconsin?

Wisconsin runs the federal program as Home Energy Plus, administered by Wisconsin Department of Administration. 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 Wisconsin actually needs.

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

Public Service Commission of Wisconsin sets a separate rule on that, and its short form is: November 1 to April 15. In several states the two are linked, because receiving assistance is itself what switches the disconnection protection on. The winter shutoff page for Wisconsin carries the rule.

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

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

Q: Where does Wisconsin publish its own heating assistance rules?

On Home Energy Plus Application, Wisconsin Department of Administration, which is the page every figure here was read from. Wisconsin Department of Administration is the agency to go back to when a date or a threshold changes, because a state can move either between program years.

Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of Energy, Housing and Community Resources runs the federal heating grant in Wisconsin. Applications run October 1 to May 15. Wisconsin Department of Administration takes applications online, at a local agency and by phone.

Home Energy Plus

What it is called here

Home Energy Plus

Oct 1

The season opens

through May 15

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 Wisconsin, in one screen

Home Energy Plus

Run by: Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of Energy, Housing and Community Resources
The season: Applications run October 1 to May 15.
The income test: Wisconsin Department of Administration does not publish a single income figure for the program on its own page.
How to apply: Wisconsin Department of Administration takes applications online, at a local agency and by phone.
By phone: 1-866-432-8947

Home Energy Plus Application, Wisconsin Department of Administration

Applications for energy assistance are accepted year-round. Applications submitted during the heating season October 1 through May 15 are for the one-time regular payment that covers a portion of your energy cost. Applications submitted outside the heating season will be considered for other assistance if funds are available.

Home Energy Plus Application, Wisconsin Department of Administration, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Applications are taken year round; one filed inside the October 1 to May 15 heating season is considered for the one time regular payment covering part of the energy cost, and one filed outside it is considered for other help if funds allow. The same application also reaches the HVAC, water conservation and weatherization programs. No dollar benefit amount is printed.

Who qualifies

The Home Energy Plus income test in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Department of Administration 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 Wisconsin

A household already disconnected, without heat or electricity, or facing a disconnection soon is told to call the Statewide Information Center right away rather than wait on the online application.

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.

If you are disconnected, without heat or electricity, or will be disconnected soon, please call the Statewide Information Center immediately at 1-866-432-8947.

Home Energy Plus Application, Wisconsin Department of Administration, 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 Wisconsin also stops the utility disconnecting

November 1 to April 15

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

Next winter

Making the house cheaper to heat in Wisconsin

Wisconsin runs Weatherization. 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 program helps reduce energy costs for income-eligible households by improving the energy efficiency of their homes while ensuring their health and safety.

Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of Energy, Housing and Community Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source

Weatherization in Wisconsin

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.

Wisconsin heating assistance questions

What is heating assistance called in Wisconsin?

When can a household apply for heating assistance in Wisconsin?

How does a household apply in Wisconsin?

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

Does Wisconsin also stop a utility disconnecting heat in winter?

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

Is heating assistance in Wisconsin a state program or a federal one?

Where does Wisconsin publish its own heating assistance rules?

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

Wisconsin winter shutoff rulesWhether Wisconsin 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.

Wisconsin read September 23, 2026 from Home Energy Plus Application, Wisconsin Department of Administration, 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.