Georgia energy and utility bill assistance: LIHEAP and weatherization (2026)

Georgia’s LIHEAP calendar: seniors first, everyone else a month later

Georgia does not run LIHEAP year-round. Each component opens on a set date, and the first 30 days are reserved for households with someone 65 or older or a medically homebound member ⁠³. DFCS describes the pattern this way: heating opens on the first workday of December for those priority households and on the first workday of January for everyone else; cooling opens on the first workday of April for priority households and the first workday of May for everyone else ⁠¹. In the 2025-26 season, heating opened December 1, 2025, and other households could book appointments starting January 2, 2026 ⁠².

Source: draft FFY 2027 LIHEAP State Plan ⁠⁴. The FFY 2026 plan closed winter crisis on March 31, 2026 ⁠³.

The closing dates are not guarantees. Each agency serves applicants first come, first served, and DFCS urges people to apply early before funding runs out ⁠¹. As of October 20, 2026, the FFY 2026 season has closed and the 2026-27 heating season has not opened. Ask your CAA when it will start booking appointments, since local opening dates can vary ⁠².

How Georgia measures income against the 60% median line

Georgia uses one income test for heating, cooling and crisis help: gross household income at or below 60% of the state median income ⁠³. HHS sets each state’s median income figures. Georgia’s FFY 2026 numbers run from $34,549 for one person to $87,702 for six ⁠⁶. The DFCS benefit matrix extends the scale to 16 people. It adds about $1,993 for each person above six, reaching $107,634 for a household of 16 ⁠⁵.

Three Georgia rules commonly decide close cases:

• Energy responsibility. The applicant must be responsible for paying the main heating source, or be able to show an energy burden ⁠¹⁠⁷. Renters whose utilities are included in the rent are not eligible unless they can show an energy burden. Renters in subsidized housing can qualify if the bill is in their name ⁠⁴.
• Large account credits. A fuel source carrying a credit of $1,000 or more on its account cannot be used for LIHEAP. A household with a second fuel source whose credit is $999 or less can apply using that one ⁠¹⁠³.
• Citizenship. The applicant must be a U.S. citizen or a lawfully admitted immigrant ⁠¹.

Households that receive public assistance are categorically eligible, but they must still bring the same documents as everyone else and receive the same benefit amount ⁠³.

Reading the FFY 2026 benefit matrix: two income levels, five fuels

Georgia pays a flat, one-time amount per component rather than a share of your bill ⁠⁵⁠⁷. The matrix splits applicants into two income levels. Level II runs from the top of Level I up to the 60% median limit. The heating payment then depends on your main heating fuel ⁠⁵.

Level I upper limits by household size, 1 to 8: $13,589; $17,770; $21,952; $25,469; $30,315; $34,496; $35,280; $36,064 ⁠⁵.

Each household can receive one heating payment and one cooling payment per program year ⁠⁷. Georgia changed its matrix to give larger payments to the lowest-income households with the highest energy burden. Earlier matrices paid the top benefit to every household with a member 60 or older; the current one does not, and seniors keep only their early application window ⁠³. If the payment goes to you rather than to a supplier, you receive the lower amount for your level ⁠³. That can happen when your supplier has not signed Georgia’s Home Energy Supplier Agreement, in which case the CAA gives you the funds to pay the bill ⁠³.

Crisis help in Georgia: a shutoff notice within seven days

Georgia’s crisis component uses the same 60% income limit but a stricter trigger. You must face disconnection within seven calendar days or need service restored. Customers who buy energy from prepay vendors may also be treated as a crisis ⁠⁴. You must bring a copy of the shutoff notice, or proof of an empty tank ⁠³. Crisis is a fast track, not an extra payment. It replaces the regular payment for that season, so you get either a regular or a crisis heating benefit, not both ⁠⁴. The maximum is $810 in winter and $500 in summer ⁠⁴.

The CAA must resolve the crisis within 48 hours, or 18 hours when the situation is life-threatening ⁠⁴. Georgia counts a situation as life-threatening only when a physician, public health official, county health director or other licensed practitioner confirms that a medical condition would worsen without energy service ⁠⁴. For applicants with a disability who cannot get to an intake site, LIHEAP staff travel to the home to take the application ⁠³.

Applying through one of Georgia’s 18 Community Action Agencies

1. Find the agency for your county

   Use the Georgia Community Action Association directory that DHS points applicants to ⁠². You must apply with the agency assigned to the county where you live, not a neighboring one ⁠⁷. The provider map on the DFCS page is dated October 2021, so check it against the directory ⁠¹.

2. Book an intake appointment

   Georgia has no statewide online application ⁠⁴. You call the CAA to schedule an appointment ⁠⁷. The FFY 2027 draft plan requires an in-person visit only if you cannot sign the application electronically ⁠⁴.

3. Gather proof for everyone in the home

   Bring your most recent heating or cooling bill, Social Security numbers and proof of citizenship for each household member, and 30 days of income proof for each adult, such as pay stubs or a public assistance letter. Bring Social Security or unemployment award letters as well ⁠².

4. Bring photo ID if you are 65 or older

   Priority intake requires a secure and verifiable ID under O.C.G.A. § 50-36-2, such as a driver’s license, to prove your age. Medically homebound applicants must document that status ⁠³.

5. Keep paying your bill

   Processing times differ by agency, and DFCS warns applicants to keep paying while they wait so the account is not disconnected ⁠⁷.

6. Check the approval copy

   Once the system approves you, the CAA gives you a copy of the approved application showing the payment ⁠³. Apply again the next season. Heating and cooling are separate applications ⁠⁷.

GEFA’s weatherization program runs on a different map

The Weatherization Assistance Program is a separate program. The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) runs it with U.S. Department of Energy and HHS money ⁠⁸, and also handles the LIHEAP weatherization share under an agreement with DHS ⁠³. Household income must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. Older adults, people with disabilities and families with children get preference, and single-family, manufactured and multifamily homes all qualify ⁠⁸. An auditor tests the home and chooses measures such as air and duct sealing, attic, wall and floor insulation, heating and cooling improvements, and water heater and pipe insulation ⁠⁸. Renters need the landlord to sign a Landlord Authorization Consent form. Households that have waited on the list for three years or more get extra priority points ⁠³.

For the DOE program year July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, GEFA’s draft plan budgets $6,419,489 and plans 301 homes across 14 local agencies ⁠⁹. Because so few homes are funded, some counties have waiting lists ⁠⁸. The weatherization agency for your county may not be your LIHEAP agency. GEFA lists Tallatoona Community Action Partnership in Cartersville for Fulton and Cobb counties, and ACTION in Athens for DeKalb and Gwinnett ⁠¹⁰.

PSC shutoff rules and the utility discounts that do exist

Beyond LIHEAP, the protections that apply across Georgia come from Public Service Commission disconnection rules and discounts offered by regulated utilities:

• Winter. From November 15 to March 15, PSC rules restrict disconnection for an unpaid bill. They tie the protection to three conditions: a written agreement to repay the past-due balance in equal installments starting after March 15 and ending before October 15; a written promise to pay new bills on time; and a forecast local low below 32°F ⁠¹¹. For natural gas marketers, the temperature test covers the 48 hours starting at 8 a.m. on the disconnection date ⁠¹³.
• Summer. An electric utility may not disconnect for an unpaid bill if a National Weather Service Heat Advisory or Excessive Heat Warning is in effect or forecast for your county before 8 a.m. that day ⁠¹¹.
• Serious illness. Notify the utility, then send a written statement from a physician, county board of health, hospital or clinic within 10 days. The shutoff is then postponed for the length of the illness or one month, whichever is shorter, and you can renew once ⁠¹².
• Georgia Power Income-Qualified Discount. This is a monthly credit of up to $33.50 ($24.00 non-fuel plus $9.50 fuel). It is open to customers 65 or older with household income at or below 200% of poverty, people receiving SSDI or SSI, and Housing Choice Voucher participants. The account must be individually metered and in your name, and unused credit does not carry over ⁠¹⁴.
• Natural gas senior discounts. Atlanta Gas Light customers 65 or older with income at or below 200% of the one-person poverty guideline get a credit on the base charge. Liberty Utilities waives the monthly customer charge for seniors who qualify ⁠¹⁵.

Denied by your CAA? Georgia’s fair hearing route

If a CAA denies your application or does not act on it with reasonable promptness, you can request a fair hearing. The request goes to the state LIHEAP office, which first tries to resolve it. If it cannot, the Office of State Administrative Hearings holds the hearing ⁠³. You should get an Information Notice explaining these rights at intake ⁠³. Georgia reported no LIHEAP fair hearings in the prior federal fiscal year ⁠³. Energy assistance is free of charge, including interpreter services ⁠¹. For other help in the state, see the Georgia assistance hub or compare states on the energy and utility assistance page.