Arizona energy and utility bill assistance: DES LIHEAP, crisis aid and weatherization (2026)

How DES took LIHEAP decisions in-house, and where community action agencies fit

In October 2022 DES moved LIHEAP administration in-house. DES staff made every eligibility decision through April 2025 ⁠¹. Local agencies still have a role. Arizona contracts with 11 community action agencies (CAAs) as LIHEAP intake providers, plus the Tohono O’odham Nation as a sub-grantee ⁠¹. Since April 2025, approved CAA staff can also decide applications in their own service area, under DES oversight ⁠¹.

In practice you can apply three ways: online through the A to Z Arizona portal, on a paper application sent by mail or fax, or by appointment with a CAA. DES says no applicant is required to apply in person ⁠¹. Payments go straight to the energy company, except for some portable fuel or rent-included utilities ⁠¹.

Members of tribes that run their own LIHEAP programs, including the Navajo Nation, Gila River Indian Community, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and White Mountain Apache Tribe, apply to their tribe. Each tribe sets its own income test ⁠¹⁰.

Arizona’s 60% of median income test, household by household

For heating, cooling and crisis help, Arizona uses 60% of state median income (SMI) for households of 1 to 9 people, and 150% of the federal poverty guidelines for households of 10 or more ⁠¹. For a household of four, 60% of SMI is $64,789 a year, against $49,500 at 150% of the 2026 poverty guidelines ⁠²⁠⁹. DES counts gross income, before taxes and deductions ⁠¹.

Sizes 1 to 6 are the published ACF figures ⁠². Sizes 7 and 8 apply the federal formula in that table (add 3 percentage points per person above six). Monthly figures are annual divided by 12, rounded down. FFY 2027 began October 1, 2026, and ACF has issued new median income estimates, so confirm the current chart on the DES LIHEAP page.

If anyone in the household is active on DES Cash Assistance (TANF) or Nutrition Assistance (SNAP), the household is income-eligible without a separate income test. The benefit amount still uses the household’s reported income ⁠¹. Arizona’s written definition names only those two programs, so SSI alone does not qualify you automatically ⁠¹. Renters in subsidized housing who get a utility allowance larger than their monthly utility bill are not eligible ⁠¹.

How the point matrix turns a household into a $160 to $640 benefit

Arizona pays one standard LIHEAP benefit per 12 months, with a minimum of $160 and a maximum of $640 ⁠¹. DES checks that a household has not had LIHEAP in the last 12 months before paying again ⁠¹. The amount comes from a benefit matrix. Income sets the base, and points are added for priority factors. The household gets one point each for a high energy burden, a member aged 60 or older, a member with a disability, a veteran, and a child 6 or younger ⁠¹. Points raise the benefit but do not speed up processing unless you are in a crisis ⁠¹.

Older adults get one more advantage. Under the DES Senior Utility Assistance Program (SUAP), older participants can renew with a shorter application and are guaranteed the matrix maximum. DES also holds back funding for that renewal group ⁠¹.

Heating and cooling months by county, paid from one year-round benefit

Arizona’s plan runs heating, cooling, crisis and weatherization from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, with applications taken all year ⁠¹. The plan gives each county a heating and cooling season:

Source: FFY 2026 State Plan ⁠¹. The State Plan spells Mohave County “Mojave”.

The seasons do not open or close applications; DES uses them to budget money month by month so funds last all year ⁠¹.

When a shutoff notice becomes a crisis payment of up to $500

Arizona has no separate crisis program. Crisis money is paid on top of a standard benefit, either with the first payment or later in the same 12 months ⁠¹. You are in crisis if any of these apply ⁠¹:

• you have a shutoff or delinquency notice;
• your standard benefit does not cover the full amount you owe;
• you have an eviction notice and utilities are included in your rent;
• you use portable fuel or prepaid service and have seven days of fuel or less left.

The crisis payment is whatever it takes to resolve the crisis, from a minimum of $5.01 to a maximum of $500 ⁠¹. DES must act within 48 hours on a crisis. A crisis is life-threatening when you self-certify both that a shutoff would endanger a household member’s health and that life-support equipment in the home depends on utility service. Then the deadline is 18 hours ⁠¹. Standard applications must be processed within 30 calendar days ⁠¹.

Applying through A to Z Arizona or a community action agency

1. Decide how to apply

   The quickest route is the A to Z Arizona portal, which first asks you to verify your identity with ID.me ⁠¹. If you do not want to use ID.me, call DES at 1-866-494-1981 or ask a community action agency for a paper application. Those routes still require a government-issued ID ⁠¹⁠³.

2. Gather income proof for every adult

   DES needs income documents for each household member 18 or older, including Social Security award letters and unemployment letters for unearned income ⁠¹. If you truly cannot get a document, DES may accept your signed statement after staff try to help you get it ⁠¹.

3. Have your utility account details ready

   Bring your current electric and gas bills, or your fuel vendor’s details. Bring any shutoff, delinquency or eviction notice, because it is what qualifies you for crisis money ⁠¹.

4. Ask for weatherization in the same application

   The online application can send a referral to the weatherization provider. You will then complete that provider’s separate application ⁠¹.

5. Watch your email

   DES emails approval notices with the amount paid to your utility, and denial notices ⁠¹.

6. Ask for Administrative Review if you disagree

   Send a written request to DES within 10 calendar days of the denial or decision ⁠¹. You can also skip that step and appeal to the DES Appellate Services Administration on form ASA-1011A. The plan gives 20 calendar days in one passage and 60 in another, so file within 20 to be safe ⁠¹. A hearing officer must decide within 90 days of the appeal ⁠¹.

7. Reapply after 12 months

   Benefits are once per 12 months. SUAP participants aged 60 and older renew with the shorter form ⁠¹.

Weatherization and Energy-Related Repair through the Arizona Department of Housing

DES passes LIHEAP weatherization money to the Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH) under an interagency agreement. ADOH runs it alongside the U.S. Department of Energy program ⁠¹. Weatherization does not pay bills. It covers an energy audit and work such as caulking and insulation, storm windows, doors, energy-related roof repair, and repair or replacement of furnaces, cooling systems and major appliances ⁠¹. Arizona’s LIHEAP weatherization uses the DOE income limit of 200% of the poverty guidelines ⁠¹. For 2026 that is $43,280 for two people and $66,000 for four ⁠⁹. The plan sets no fixed per-home cap but budgets an average cost of $20,000 per home ⁠¹. Renters can apply as well as homeowners. Priority goes to older adults, people with disabilities, families with children and households with high energy use or burden ⁠⁸.

Energy-Related Repair (ERR) is ADOH’s crisis track for heating or cooling systems that do not work, do not distribute air, malfunction, or are unsafe, for example by producing carbon monoxide ⁠¹. It is for homeowners only, because Arizona landlords must keep heating and cooling working in rentals. ADOH sets priorities and funds jobs as money allows ⁠¹.

Arizona’s June 1 to October 15 shutoff rule, and what changed on October 16

Corporation Commission rule R14-2-211 makes each regulated electric utility pick one protection and write it into its tariff ⁠⁴. Option one: no disconnections on days the National Weather Service forecasts 32°F or below, above 95°F, or other weather the Commission has found dangerous to health. Option two: no residential disconnections from June 1 through October 15 every year ⁠⁴. Arizona Public Service, Tucson Electric Power and UNS Electric use the summer calendar ⁠³. APS also pauses shutoffs on days forecast at 95°F or hotter, under a settlement with the Attorney General, and when it is forecast below 32°F ⁠³⁠⁷.

During the summer moratorium the utility may not charge late fees or interest on past-due amounts. Once it ends, it must let you pay the balance in installments over a period you agree on ⁠⁴. The 2026 moratorium ended October 15, so summer balances are now due under those plans. The rule also protects you year-round ⁠⁴:

• a utility may not disconnect if you paid at least half of the past-due balance in the last 25 days, or if you owe $300 or less;
• it may not disconnect if a licensed medical practitioner certifies each year that a shutoff would be especially dangerous to health, or that medical equipment in the home needs power. You must then sign a deferred payment agreement;
• it must give at least 10 days’ written notice, then two written notices and a phone call at least 48 hours before the shutoff.

Salt River Project, which the Commission does not regulate, and Southwest Gas use their own weather-based pauses for extreme cold or heat ⁠¹.

Power AZ ended; what is left beyond LIHEAP

In March 2026 the state launched Power AZ, a $15 million DES program for households up to 100% of state median income ($8,998 a month for four). It paid the same $160 to $640 standard benefit and up to $500 in crisis aid, on a first-come, first-served basis ⁠⁵. SRP has since posted that Power AZ funds are exhausted, and TEP’s page says the program has ended ⁠⁵⁠⁶. Arizona has no statewide low-income utility discount set by law. Any bill discounts come from individual utilities. APS, for example, offers its own Energy Support discount and the APS CARE fund of up to $500 through The Salvation Army ⁠⁷. For local charity funds and heat relief centers, dial 2-1-1 ⁠¹¹.

For other help in the state, see the Arizona assistance hub or compare states on the energy and utility assistance page.