Connecticut energy and heating assistance: CEAP, crisis fuel and weatherization (2026-27)

How DSS and nine Community Action Agencies split the CEAP work

DSS sets the rules, signs up fuel vendors and funds the program, but does not process applications. Nine Community Action Agencies (CAAs) take applications, decide eligibility and authorize payments, through about 180 intake sites such as senior centers and town social services offices ⁠². Each town is assigned to one CAA. The state’s CEAP page has a town lookup ⁠¹:

• CRT (Hartford and Middletown offices) serves the most towns (39 in the lookup), including Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Glastonbury, Branford, Guilford and Clinton ⁠¹.
• ACCESS (Willimantic and Danielson) covers northeastern Connecticut ⁠¹.
• NOI (Meriden, Waterbury, Torrington) covers central and northwestern towns ⁠¹.
• CAAWC (Danbury and Stamford) covers the Danbury and Stamford areas, including Greenwich and Darien, plus northwestern towns such as Canaan and Cornwall ⁠¹.
• TVCCA (New London and Norwich) covers southeastern Connecticut ⁠¹.
• ALLIANCE (Bridgeport and Norwalk), CAANH (New Haven), HRA (Bristol and New Britain) and TEAM (Derby-Milford) serve their surrounding towns ⁠¹.

If you cannot find your agency, the application itself says to call 2-1-1 ⁠⁵.

The 60% of state median income test and who skips it

Connecticut uses the higher of the two federal ceilings. CEAP takes households at or below 60% of state median income, which is $93,681 for four. The 150% of poverty line would be $49,500 ⁠². A household is categorically eligible when any member receives Temporary Family Assistance (TFA), SNAP, SSI, the State Supplement for the Aged, Blind and Disabled, Refugee Cash Assistance or a means-tested VA benefit ⁠². The qualifying VA benefits are the Improved Pension, Survivors Pension and Parents’ Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. Service-connected disability compensation does not count ⁠².

Categorical eligibility gets you in, but it does not place you in the top benefit tier. The CAA still verifies the income of household members who are not on the qualifying program in order to set your level ⁠². Income is counted from the last 30 days, or any four consecutive weeks in the past three months, and annualized. You can ask to use the last 52 weeks instead if that better reflects your year ⁠².

Social Security numbers are required for every member, with exceptions for people who have applied for one but not received it, and for battered spouses and trafficking victims ⁠². Members who are not qualified aliens are left out of the household count, but their income still counts ⁠².

CEAP’s 2026-27 benefit matrix: three income levels, two household types

A household is “vulnerable” if a member is 60 or older, has a disability, or is under 6 ⁠². The FFY 2027 plan raised every Basic Benefit by $60, every Rental Assistance Benefit by $15 and the Crisis benefit by $5 from FFY 2026 ⁠³.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Benefit amounts and bands from the FFY 2027 Allocation Plan ⁠². Dollar ranges are 125% and 200% of the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines ⁠¹¹ and the plan’s 60% SMI figures ⁠².

The Basic Benefit goes to your utility or fuel dealer ⁠¹. Rental Assistance is a check to renters whose heat is in the rent, and they must show a lease or other proof of that ⁠². SNAP households that have a utility obligation but get no Basic or Rental benefit receive $20.01 from DSS, which raises their SNAP utility allowance. Under the 2025 federal law (H.R. 1), that payment now goes only to SNAP households with a member 60 or older or a member with a disability ⁠².

Oil, propane and kerosene: crisis deliveries and the November 2 to April 1 window

About 32,893 of the households CEAP expects to serve heat with deliverable fuel ⁠⁴. For them, the season runs on fixed dates ⁠²:

• November 2, 2026: first day CEAP pays for a delivery.
• April 1, 2027: last day for fuel authorizations. Vendors can finish authorized deliveries through April 8.
• May 31, 2027: last day to apply.
• June 17, 2027: last day to submit fuel bills.

After the Basic Benefit is used up, a deliverable-fuel household can receive up to three Crisis Assistance benefits of $430 each without a new income check ⁠². A vulnerable Level 1 household could therefore receive $705 plus $1,290, or $1,995, toward fuel. The state says the October 2026 state money lets these households receive their benefits together this winter instead of using up one before the next ⁠⁴. Crisis deliveries must be authorized within 48 hours, or 18 hours in a life-threatening situation. Connecticut defines that as being out of fuel or within one week of running out ⁠². A household in that situation gets “prioritized services”: the CAA decides eligibility within 24 hours or by the next business day, then authorizes a delivery within 18 hours ⁠².

CEAP pays oil dealers either the daily rack price plus $0.55 a gallon or the dealer’s lowest posted retail price minus $0.35. The dealer cannot bill you the difference ⁠². If you buy fuel before you are approved, CEAP can reimburse deliveries made from November 2 to April 1 once you are found eligible ⁠².

If your furnace or boiler stops working, CEAP sets aside $1.2 million to repair or replace unsafe or inoperable heating systems, oil tanks and combi-boiler water heaters. This covers owner-occupied single-family homes and homes occupied by a life tenant ⁠². The same fund pays for a clean, tune and test on request. Renters need the landlord’s written permission ⁠².

Gas and electric heat: winter moratorium, matching payments and the discount rate

Utility-heated households get no Crisis Assistance, because state law protects them from winter shutoffs. The CAA works with the utility instead to prevent a disconnection or restore service ⁠². CEAP pays the Basic Benefit as a credit on the account for usage from November 2, 2026 to May 31, 2027 ⁠². Once you qualify, the CAA reports you to your utilities as a financial hardship customer. Households already getting SNAP or other DSS benefits are coded automatically ⁠². That designation unlocks three protections:

• Winter Protection Program. From November 1 to May 1, electric utilities and suppliers cannot shut off a hardship customer who cannot pay the full bill. Gas companies cannot either, if gas is the heat source ⁠⁹. Hardship status also covers anyone receiving public or private energy assistance, anyone at or below 125% of poverty, and anyone on Medicaid or other state or federal assistance ⁠⁸. If a doctor certifies a life-threatening illness in the home, gas and electric cannot be shut off at any time of year. You must renew the certification each year and keep paying or stay on a payment plan ⁠⁸.
• Matching Payment Program. If you are a hardship customer with more than $100 past due for over 60 days, the utility matches each dollar you pay and each CEAP dollar applied to the account ⁠¹⁰. You no longer need a CEAP benefit to get the match, but only PURA-regulated utilities have to offer it ⁠².
• Low Income Discount Rate. Eversource places hardship customers in one of five tiers, from 5% to 50% off. The state’s page describes United Illuminating’s rate as two tiers of 10% or 50% ⁠¹⁰. Call Eversource (800-286-2828) or UI (800-722-5584) to check your tier ⁠¹⁰. The utilities enroll eligible electric customers automatically ⁠².

Filing a CEAP application for the 2026-27 season

1. Find your agency

   Look up your town on the state’s CEAP page to get your CAA’s phone number, email and office addresses ⁠¹.

2. Pick a way to apply

   Apply online through the CEAP Client Online portal (a CT.gov login is required), by phone with your CAA, by emailing or mailing the W-1104 form, or in person by appointment ⁠¹⁠⁶. Online applications take 30 to 45 minutes and are signed automatically. Unsigned paper forms are returned ⁠¹.

3. Gather bill copies

   Send your latest heating bill and an electric bill, or a lease showing heat is included ⁠⁵. All households paying a vendor directly must include a current electric bill, even if they heat with oil ⁠².

4. Gather income proof for everyone

   Include pay stubs for 30 days or four straight weeks in the last three months, award letters, and bank statements showing child support or alimony ⁠⁵. Social Security recipients should include the award letter ⁠⁶. Use the Zero Income form, the child support non-receipt affidavit or the Certification of Disability (W-1089) if they apply ⁠⁵.

5. Check the weatherization box

   Section 2 of the form asks if you want weatherization. Saying yes lets DSS share your file with DEEP ⁠⁵.

6. Report an emergency

   Section 4 asks about shutoff notices, disconnections, fuel below a quarter tank and a broken heating system. Fill it in so the CAA can prioritize you ⁠⁵.

7. Watch for the written decision

   The CAA must send it within 45 calendar days ⁠².

Weatherization through DEEP: same 60% SMI test, different contractors

The Weatherization Assistance Program in Connecticut uses CEAP’s limit of 60% of state median income, not the 200% of poverty used in many states ⁠⁷. Priority goes to older adults, people with disabilities, families with children and high energy users. In multifamily buildings, at least two-thirds of the tenants must be income-eligible ⁠⁷. A home cannot be done if WAP, LIHEAP, HUD or USDA weatherized it in the last 15 years. It also cannot be listed for sale within six months of the work, or be in foreclosure ⁠⁷.

Once you are found eligible, you schedule the energy audit yourself. Hartford, Tolland, Middlesex, Windham and New London counties go to the Community Renewal Team. New Haven, Fairfield and Litchfield counties go to the Center for Eco Technology ⁠⁷. You can also apply directly by emailing [email protected] ⁠⁷. DEEP asked for no LIHEAP money for FFY 2027, so this year’s work is funded only by the U.S. Department of Energy ⁠². Households over the limit can use the utility-funded Home Energy Solutions programs through Energize CT (1-877-WISE-USE) ⁠⁷.

Desk review, fair hearing, and what to do when CEAP runs out

If you disagree with a decision, or do not hear back within 45 days, ask your CAA for a desk review. If that does not resolve it, request a Fair Hearing with DSS, whose decision is final ⁠². A household found to have misrepresented its situation must repay the benefits and is barred for the rest of the year plus two more program years ⁠². Report suspected abuse to the DSS Fraud Hotline at 1-800-842-2155 ⁠². When your benefits run out, CAAs refer eligible households to Operation Fuel, a private fuel bank, and to 2-1-1 ⁠².

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