Alaska heating and utility assistance: HAP, AAHP, crisis aid and weatherization (2026-27)

One HAP1 form, two benefit rates

You do not choose between LIHEAP and AAHP. DPA places you in one or the other from your income on the HAP1 application ⁠². To qualify for either, your household must pay at least $200 a year for heat out of pocket ⁠¹. The table below shows the FFY 2027 cut-offs in gross monthly income for common household sizes. Each column is a benefit band, explained in the next section.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Dollar figures are the top of each band. DPA rounds them down and bases them on the January 2026 Federal Register poverty guidelines ⁠⁴.

DPA counts gross income from the calendar month before you sign the application. Seasonal workers and the self-employed are averaged over the past 12 months ⁠¹⁰. The Permanent Fund Dividend and Senior Benefits payments are not counted ⁠¹⁰. If anyone in the household received TANF, SNAP or SSI from the month before the application through the month of decision, DPA uses the income already on that case instead of asking for new proof. That speeds things up, but the benefit is calculated the same way as for everyone else ⁠¹¹.

How DPA turns your village, home and income into heating points

The benefit is not a flat amount. DPA’s computer system works through a fixed point formula ⁠³:

1. Community points

   Each community has a point value for fuel oil and, where available, natural gas. Electric heat, steam and vehicles used as homes use the oil value. Self-harvested wood or coal gets 0.5 times the oil value, purchased wood or coal 0.8, and pellets 0.9 ⁠³. The FFY 2027 listing gives Anchorage 8 points for oil and 5 for gas, Fairbanks 10 for oil, Juneau 5, Nome 17, Kotzebue 21, and Ambler, Kobuk and Shungnak 35 ⁠⁵.

2. Dwelling factor

   Points are multiplied by 1.3 for a single-family home, duplex or triplex with three or more bedrooms, and 1 for a two-bedroom one. A two-bedroom unit in a building with four or more units, or a mobile home under 980 square feet, gets 0.7. A one-bedroom home gets 0.55 and a studio 0.15 ⁠³.

3. Income share

   Points are then cut to the share shown in the table above, from 100% down to 20% ⁠³.

4. Vulnerable member

   Add one point if anyone in the household is 60 or older, legally disabled, or under 6 ⁠³.

5. Floor, rounding and cap

   You need at least 2.0 points or DPA denies the case as “Limited Heating Points.” The total is rounded to a whole number and capped at 35 ⁠³.

6. Rate

   For the FY 2027 season, each point is worth $175 for LIHEAP households and $130 for AAHP households ⁠³. Subsidized renters who also get a utility allowance have the result cut by 50% ⁠³.

The FFY 2026 State Plan put the LIHEAP range at $350 to $6,125, which is 2 to 35 points at $175 ⁠¹¹.

Three Alaska households run through the formula

These examples use the FY 2027 rates and the Addendum E bands ⁠³⁠⁴:

• Fairbanks, fuel oil, three-bedroom house, four people, $4,000 a month. 10 points x 1.3 = 13. Income falls in the 100.01% to 125% band, so 13 x 0.6 = 7.8. With a child under 6, add 1 to get 8.8, which rounds to 9 points. 9 x $175 = $1,575.
• Same Fairbanks house, $6,500 a month. That is in the 175.01% to 200% AAHP band: 13 x 0.3 = 3.9, rounded to 4 points. 4 x $130 = $520.
• Anchorage, natural gas, two-bedroom apartment in a 4-plex, two people, $4,200 a month. 5 x 0.7 = 3.5, then x 0.3 = 1.05 points. That is below the 2.0 floor, so the application is denied. A low-cost heating area combined with income near the top of AAHP often produces no benefit.

Payment goes to your fuel or electric vendor as a credit. It goes to you directly only if heat is in non-subsidized rent or you heat with purchased or self-harvested wood ⁠². Under the September 2026 manual, you can ask to send exactly half the grant to your electric company. Partial splits are not allowed, and you must ask when you apply ⁠⁸. Older FAQ pages still describe a 25% option ⁠¹⁰.

When a tribal organization handles your application instead

DPA does not serve every community. In some areas, tribal organizations run LIHEAP under their own federal grants. Several of them also run AAHP with a state grant. They may follow DPA’s policies but are not required to ⁠². Addendum A of the HAP manual lists every community with a code ⁠⁵:

• “0”: the tribe serves all residents, Native and non-Native. Examples are Bethel (Orutsaramiut Native Council), Akiachak and other AVCP villages, Dillingham (BBNA), and most Tanana Chiefs Conference villages.
• “*”: the tribe serves only Alaska Native and American Indian households, and everyone else applies to DPA. Examples are Anchorage and Eagle River (CITC), Fairbanks and North Pole (TCC), Juneau and Ketchikan (THRHA), and Kenai (Kenaitze Indian Tribe).
• Blank: DPA serves everyone. Examples are Wasilla, Palmer, Kodiak, Nome, Kotzebue and Utqiagvik (listed as Barrow).

Addendum B, updated October 9, 2026, lists 13 tribal providers with phone numbers. Examples are AVCP at 907-543-8711, TCC at 907-452-8251 x3521, and Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority at 907-780-6868 ⁠⁶. In villages with no DPA office, paid fee agents help residents fill out and forward the HAP1 ⁠¹¹.

Crisis help in Alaska: empty tanks and 48-hour shutoffs

Crisis Assistance is not a separate pot of money. It is the same benefit, moved to the front of the line ⁠¹¹. You qualify as being in crisis if any of these apply ⁠¹:

• You are out of your main heating fuel, or within 48 hours of running out.
• Your heating fuel or electric service has been cut off, or will be within 48 hours.
• You have an eviction notice for unpaid rent, and heat is included in non-subsidized rent.

DPA must decide and pay within 48 hours of a complete application, or 18 hours if it is life-threatening ⁠⁷. Life-threatening means someone uses prescribed medical equipment that needs fuel or power, and you are out of fuel or within 48 hours of losing it. Your own statement about the equipment is accepted ⁠¹¹. Crisis applications are taken through June 30, but you still get only one benefit per season across heating, crisis and the subsidized-housing utility deposit ⁠⁷. For a governor-declared disaster, the FFY 2026 plan allowed up to $1,500 per household for disaster-related energy needs ⁠¹¹.

Applying for the 2026-27 season through DPA

1. Check who serves your community

   Look up your town in Addendum A. If a tribe serves all residents, or serves Native households and you are one, apply with that tribe ⁠⁵.

2. Watch for the pre-mailed form

   Last season’s recipients get a 2026-27 application in the mail. Older adult and disabled households get theirs September 23 to 30, families with children under 6 get theirs October 1 to 8, and all others get theirs October 11 to 15 ⁠⁷.

3. Gather documents

   You need recent heating fuel and electric bills, or wood receipts totaling at least $200. You also need pay stubs or benefit letters for everyone from the month before you sign, and an ID or Social Security card for the head of household. Include your lease and rent receipt if heat is in your rent ⁠¹⁰.

4. Submit

   Use the Alaska Connect portal, mail or drop off the form at a DPA office, fax it to 888-269-6520, or email it to [email protected]. Paper forms must be signed ⁠¹. Applications sent in September are processed, but no payment goes out before October 1 ⁠¹.

5. Flag an emergency

   Mark the crisis box, or call DPA at 800-478-7778, and attach the disconnection notice ⁠¹⁰.

6. Track the decision

   DPA has up to 45 days to decide. The Notice of Action goes to you and to your vendor, and the vendor is usually paid within a week ⁠¹⁰. Check status by phone at 888-804-6330 (907-269-5777 in Anchorage) ⁠¹⁰.

7. Appeal in writing within 30 days

   A supervisor reviews the case, a pre-hearing conference follows, and unresolved cases go to a hearing officer. Applications older than 45 days go to DPA’s Workflow Management Team ⁠¹¹.

AHFC weatherization uses separate, county-based income limits

The Weatherization Program is run by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, not DPA. The work is free to homeowners and renters who qualify, and you apply with the regional provider for your area ⁠¹². AHFC’s FY2026 limits took effect June 18, 2026, and they are far above HAP’s. A four-person household can earn up to $120,300 in most boroughs and census areas, $135,100 in Anchorage, $137,500 in Juneau and $146,200 in the Denali Borough. AHFC also lists a 200%-of-poverty column, $80,380 for four ⁠¹³. Homes weatherized before May 14, 2008 can be done again, but at lower priority ⁠¹².

Providers include RurAL CAP (800-478-7227), Alaska Community Development Corporation (800-478-8080), Interior Weatherization in Fairbanks (907-452-5323), and regional housing authorities such as Tlingit-Haida, AVCP and Northwest Inupiat ⁠¹⁴. Under the LIHEAP plan, weatherization households with an older, disabled or young-child member get priority, and minor roof repair is capped at $3,000 ⁠¹¹.

Rural electric credits and Alaska’s shutoff notice rules

Alaska has no statewide low-income utility discount. Its main rate program is Power Cost Equalization (PCE), which is not tied to income. At eligible rural utilities, residential customers get a per-kilowatt-hour credit on up to 750 kWh a month, and the state reimburses the utility. The credit is capped at 95% of power costs or the average rate, whichever is less ⁠¹⁵.

For utilities under the Regulatory Commission of Alaska’s rules, a utility must mail a disconnection notice at least 15 days ahead. That rises to 30 days if it knows someone in the home is seriously ill, elderly, disabled or on life support ⁠⁹. The utility must also try to reach you personally at least three working days before cutting service. It may not disconnect on a Friday or the day before a holiday. It may not disconnect while you keep to a deferred payment agreement you qualify for ⁠⁹. The rule has no winter or cold-weather ban, so tell DPA right away when a notice arrives.

See the Alaska assistance hub or compare states on the energy and utility assistance page.