New Mexico LIHEAP, winter shutoff protection and Energy$mart weatherization (2026)

How HCA’s Income Support Division runs LIHEAP without local agencies

LIHEAP applications go to the same ISD field offices and YesNM portal used for SNAP, TANF and Medicaid, and LIHEAP is on their joint application ⁠². Partner groups can help you fill in the form and forward it, but HCA decides ⁠².

HCA pays the utility or fuel vendor you name, which must credit your account or deliver fuel within 30 days ⁠⁸. Direct payment to you is a last resort ⁠⁸: for example, if you gather your own firewood, your vendor has not signed an agreement with HCA, or you pay your landlord separately for utilities ⁠². Since September 15, 2025, YesNM checks your vendor account in real time ⁠².

The 150% line: the FFY 2026 chart and the FFY 2027 switch

Heating, cooling and crisis share one test: gross household income at or below 150% of the HHS poverty guidelines, counted over the last 30 days, with no asset test ⁠¹⁠². The table above is HCA’s FFY 2026 chart (October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026), the latest HCA chart that could be verified ⁠³.

FFY 2027 began October 1, 2026, and state rule uses the poverty guidelines for the current LIHEAP fiscal year ⁠⁴. HCA’s FFY 2027 chart could not be opened for this guide. If HCA adopts the 2026 HHS guidelines ($33,000 for four), 150% would be $49,500 a year for four ⁠¹⁵. Treat that as an estimate and confirm with ISD.

At least one member must be a U.S. citizen or a TANF-eligible qualified noncitizen, and each person counted needs a Social Security number or proof of applying ⁠⁷. A household over the limit because of a documented hardship in the last 30 days, such as medical bills or emergency vehicle repairs, can still get crisis help based on net income ⁠².

Turning points into dollars: New Mexico’s $35-per-point scale

Every eligible household gets points, and each point is worth $35 in FFY 2026 ⁠³. Under 8.150.620 NMAC, points come from three places ⁠⁴:

Source: HCA FFY 2026 point chart ⁠³; rules in 8.150.620.9 NMAC ⁠⁴. For larger households, add $504 a month per person to the 3-point line and $688 to the 2-point line ⁠³.

The scale runs from $70 for 2 points to $490 for 14 points ⁠³. Example: a household of three with $2,000 a month in income (3 points), a $150 electric bill (7.5% burden, 1 point) and a grandparent at home (2 points) has 6 points, worth $210. If your bills are below the standard or service is new, HCA uses a $283 Energy Standard Allowance ⁠³. Utilities-in-rent and wood-gathering households get no energy-burden points ⁠⁴.

The approval notice shows your points and benefit, so you can check the math. HCA may split the benefit into several payments or add a supplemental benefit when funding or emergency weather allows ⁠⁶.

Crisis LIHEAP is a faster benefit, not a second one

Crisis LIHEAP is the same annual benefit on a deadline, and it is not available once you have received LIHEAP this federal fiscal year ⁠⁵. If a shutoff is coming, apply as a crisis case rather than filing a regular application first. Under 8.150.100 NMAC, a crisis is any of these ⁠⁵:

• a written disconnect notice
• a vendor statement refusing fuel delivery for nonpayment
• 20% or less left in a bulk fuel tank
• less than a three-day supply of firewood
• not enough money to open an account or pay a required deposit

A crisis is life-threatening when the household includes a child age one or younger, someone 60 or older, or a member with a disability, and that person’s health would likely be endangered without energy help ⁠⁵. HCA must act within 48 hours of a completed application, or 18 hours if life-threatening, not counting weekends and holidays ⁠⁵. Crisis benefits are capped at $490 ⁠². A failed heating or cooling system may be repaired or replaced by Housing New Mexico’s weatherization contractors ⁠².

Applying through YesNM or an ISD field office

1. Pick a channel

   Apply online through YesNM, in person at any county ISD office, or by mailing or faxing the LHP-602 application to an ISD office. The May 1, 2026 form comes in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese ⁠¹⁠⁶. Lobbies are open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays (Santa Rosa mornings only, Lordsburg Tuesdays only); fax 1-855-804-8960 ⁠¹⁴.

2. Gather proof

   Bring identity for one adult, immigration status for any noncitizen applying, 30 days of income for everyone, proof of disability if no one gets disability income, and proof of your heating or cooling cost ⁠¹.

3. Flag a crisis on day one

   Attach the disconnect notice or fuel vendor’s refusal. For a life-threatening risk, your own written or spoken statement is accepted ⁠¹⁠⁷.

4. Answer the interview call

   HCA’s page says to expect an interview about ten days after applying, and your worker will list anything still needed and the deadline for it ⁠¹.

5. Send missing documents within 30 days

   Verification is due by the 30th day after your application’s date stamp, or ISD may deny it ⁠⁶.

6. Watch for the notice

   HCA says you will get a letter within 45 days telling you whether you were approved ⁠¹.

7. Appeal if the amount or denial looks wrong

   You have 90 days to request a fair hearing: call 1-800-283-4465, write to your ISD office, or call the Fair Hearings Bureau at 505-476-6213 ⁠². Winning brings a retroactive benefit ⁠⁴. Of 7 hearings in the year before the FFY 2026 plan, none reversed HCA ⁠².

8. Reapply each fiscal year

   With one benefit per October-to-September fiscal year, file again after October 1 ⁠⁶.

Tribal members, renters and wood-gatherers: who applies where

Members of a tribe or pueblo that runs its own LIHEAP apply to the tribe if they live on its land. Off that land, or if their tribe runs no LIHEAP, they can apply to HCA, as can non-members on tribal land ⁠⁷. A LIHEAP benefit from any other state, tribe or territory in the same fiscal year rules out New Mexico’s ⁠⁶.

Unsubsidized renters qualify even when utilities are in the rent. Subsidized renters qualify only if they pay some heating or cooling cost out of pocket ⁠⁷. Wood-gatherers count as having a heating cost even when the wood is free, and a direct payment can buy gasoline or tools for cutting ⁠⁷⁠⁸.

Winter moratorium and medical certification under PRC rule 17.5.410

The Public Regulation Commission’s rule covers electric, gas and rural electric cooperative utilities it regulates ⁠⁹. From November 15 through March 15, they may not disconnect a customer for nonpayment once HCA certifies the customer as LIHEAP-qualified. You must have had no past-due balance on November 15, or be on a settlement or installment agreement and keep paying. You can join mid-winter by paying the November 15 balance or signing a plan. If you were already shut off, the utility must reconnect you by the next working day without demanding the reconnection fee first ⁠⁹.

For the moratorium, HCA certifies households at or below 150% of poverty, households with an SSI recipient, and households eligible for another ISD program with a limit at or below 150%. The account holder’s name need not match, and an HCA approval notice or ISD office form is the proof ⁠⁸.

Year-round, a household with a seriously or chronically ill member is protected if the utility receives two forms at least two days before the shutoff date: a medical certification from a physician, physician assistant or certified nurse practitioner, and a financial certification from an assistance agency. Service already cut must be restored within 12 hours. Both forms last 90 days; a permanent condition can be certified for one year ⁠⁹.

Utilities must give 15 days’ written notice in English and Spanish and may disconnect only 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday; PRC consumer relations is at 1-888-427-5772 ⁠⁹. No statewide low-income discount rate was found. The Clearinghouse lists last-resort charity funds: PNM’s Good Neighbor Fund (November to April), New Mexico Gas Company’s HEAT New Mexico (from January 1) and El Paso Electric’s Bright Hearts ⁠¹³.

NM Energy$mart: free weatherization through Housing New Mexico

HCA contracts LIHEAP weatherization to the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (Housing New Mexico) ⁠², which runs it with federal Weatherization Assistance Program funds as NM Energy$mart ⁠¹⁰. Owners and renters, including in mobile homes, can apply; renters need landlord consent ⁠¹⁰. SSI, TANF or disability income makes you automatically income-eligible; otherwise the limit is 200% of poverty: $31,920 for one person, $66,000 for four and $111,440 for eight, plus $11,000 for each additional person ⁠¹⁰. Priority goes to people over 60, people with disabilities, families with children and high-energy homes ⁠¹⁰.

Apply directly to the provider for your area ⁠¹¹:

• Central New Mexico Housing Corporation (Albuquerque, 505-345-4949) serves 18 northern counties, including Bernalillo, Santa Fe, San Juan and McKinley, plus 20 tribes and pueblos, among them Acoma, Zuni, Isleta and the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
• Southwestern Regional Housing & Community Development Corporation (Las Cruces, 575-523-1639) serves 15 southern and eastern counties, including Doña Ana, Eddy, Lea and Chaves, and the Mescalero Apache.
• Red Feather Development Group (Flagstaff, 928-440-5119) serves the Navajo Nation.

Approved applicants join a county waiting list ranked by priority. A certified energy auditor then tests the home, crews add insulation and air sealing, repair or replace heating, cooling or water heaters, install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and a final inspection follows ⁠¹². In LIHEAP-funded work, eligible disabled veterans with the highest scores can be served first, and their disability income is not counted ⁠².

For other help in the state, see the New Mexico assistance hub, the New Mexico cash assistance guide, or compare states on the energy and utility assistance page.