North Carolina energy assistance: LIEAP, Crisis Intervention and weatherization (2026)

Two DSS programs and a DEQ program, all paid from one federal grant

The heating component is the Low Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP), a single payment per season sent straight to your heating vendor ⁠¹. The crisis component is the Crisis Intervention Program (CIP), which covers both heating and cooling emergencies all year ⁠³. Both are DSS programs. The weatherization share is passed to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) under an interagency agreement. DEQ’s State Energy Office runs the Weatherization Assistance Program and the Heating and Air Repair and Replacement Program (HARRP) through local agencies, mostly community action agencies ⁠⁵⁠¹³.

DSS also lists donor-funded utility funds for each company’s own customers, such as Duke Energy Progress Share the Light and Piedmont Natural Gas Share the Warmth ⁠⁷. Counties weigh these before or alongside CIP money ⁠⁵.

The 130% line, the 150% line, and North Carolina’s “special population”

North Carolina sets LIEAP below the federal maximum. Most households are tested at 130% of the federal poverty guidelines on gross monthly income. Households with a member 60 or older or a person with a disability, which the plan calls the special population, are tested at 150% ⁠⁵. CIP uses 150% for everyone ⁠⁴. The FFY 2026 charts in force for the 2025-26 season match 130% and 150% of the 2025 HHS guidelines.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Sources: LIEAP chart ⁠²; CIP chart ⁠⁴. Both charts run to 26-person households. NCDHHS had not posted 2026-27 charts when this page was checked on October 20, 2026.

One inconsistency is worth knowing. The second page of the FFY 2026 chart defines the special population as someone 65 or older or disabled through Adult Services ⁠². The LIEAP web page and the FFY 2027 plan both say 60 or older ⁠¹⁠⁵. If someone in your home is 60 to 64, apply as special population and ask the county to apply the 150% test.

Countable income includes wages, Social Security, SSI, pensions, child support and unemployment ⁠⁵. The FFY 2027 plan reports no asset test for LIEAP ⁠⁵. CIP does have one: countable resources must be $4,500 or less if a member is 60 or older or disabled and $3,000 or less for other households ⁠³.

LIEAP’s flat $300 to $500 payment matrix

LIEAP does not pay your bill in full. It sends one credit to one heating vendor, and the amount comes from a short matrix of household size and income band ⁠². The plan sets the FFY 2027 minimum at $300 and the maximum at $500 ⁠⁵.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

The chart labels the bands “0-50% of FPL” and “51%-100% of FPL”, but its dollar ranges run up to the full 130% limit ⁠². Special-population households get the same $300 to $500 amounts, with bands scaled to 150% ⁠².

The plan adds that fuel type matters: households heating with something other than coal or wood receive a higher payment because those fuels cost more ⁠⁵.

December for older and disabled residents, January for everyone else

Under the FFY 2027 plan, the heating program runs December 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027 ⁠⁵. Households with someone 60 or older or disabled and receiving services through the Division of Aging and Adult Services may apply December 1 to 31. All other households may apply January 1 to March 31, or until the county’s money runs out ⁠¹. Some older households do not need to apply at all. The plan describes an automatic payment for older households that received heating help the year before and currently get SNAP (Food and Nutrition Services) ⁠⁵. In late November 2025, more than 130,000 such households received automatic payments ⁠⁶.

Federal timing can move these dates: after the 2025 federal shutdown delayed funding, new special-population applicants could start only on December 10, 2025, and everyone else on January 2, 2026 ⁠⁶. NCDHHS reported about $45 million paid to more than 131,000 households in the December 2024 to March 2025 season ⁠⁶. Your county DSS announces the actual opening dates ⁠¹.

Crisis Intervention Program: up to $600 a year for heating or cooling emergencies

CIP takes applications from July 1 through June 30, or until the county’s CIP allocation is spent ⁠³. A household is in crisis when its heating or cooling is disconnected, or when it faces a life-threatening or health-related emergency without heat or cooling and no other help is available in time ⁠⁵. You do not need a disconnect notice. A final notice or past-due bill is enough, together with a health-related or life-threatening emergency ⁠³. No face-to-face interview is required ⁠³.

• Amount. CIP pays what is needed to resolve the crisis, up to $600 per household per state fiscal year. If one crisis costs less, you can reapply later in the year until you reach $600, while funds last ⁠⁵.
• Speed. The county must act within 48 hours. When a member has a medical condition or service is already disconnected, the deadline is 18 hours, or one business day ⁠⁵.
• In-kind help. Within the $600 cap, CIP can buy window air conditioners and fans ⁠⁵. It does not repair or replace furnaces or heat pumps; that work belongs to weatherization ⁠⁵.
• Pledges. After approval, the county contacts the utility to pledge the payment on your account until the money arrives ⁠⁵.

Applying through your county DSS or ePASS

1. Pick the right program

   In December, apply for LIEAP only if someone in the home is 60 or older or disabled. From January 1 to March 31, any eligible household can apply. For a past-due, final-notice or shut-off situation at any time of year, apply for CIP instead ⁠¹⁠³.

2. Choose how to apply

   Apply online at NCDHHS ePASS, by phone with your county DSS (with a telephonic signature), in person, or on the paper energy application sent by mail, fax, email or drop-off ⁠⁵. Find your county’s office in the Local DSS Directory ⁠¹⁵. The state plan says no in-person appointment is required to apply ⁠⁵.

3. Gather documents

   Bring photo ID, proof of address such as a lease, your Social Security number, pay stubs or tax forms, award letters for benefits, and a copy of your heating bill ⁠¹. For CIP, bring the utility statement showing the amount needed to resolve the crisis ⁠³. You can upload documents to ePASS during or after the application ⁠⁵.

4. Check that you pay for heat

   You must be “vulnerable,” meaning you pay a separate heating bill. Section 8 tenants count as private renters. People in public housing whose heat is included in rent qualify only if they paid extra heating charges in the last 12 months at that address ⁠⁵.

5. Report an emergency right away

   Tell the worker if service is off or someone’s health is at risk; that triggers the 18-hour track ⁠⁵.

6. Watch for the notice

   An approval notice by mail shows the amount and the vendor account credited ⁠⁵.

Weatherization and HARRP through DEQ’s local agencies

DEQ’s Weatherization Assistance Program uses 200% of the 2026 poverty guidelines: $31,920 a year for one person, $54,640 for three, $66,000 for four and $111,440 for eight ⁠⁹. Households receiving Work First or SSI cash payments also qualify, as do households income-eligible for HUD programs such as CDBG and HOME ⁠⁹. Homeowners and renters (with the landlord’s written permission) in site-built and manufactured homes can apply. Homes weatherized with DOE money in the last 15 years are ineligible unless a natural disaster damaged them ⁠⁹.

You apply with the local agency, not DSS. Eligible applicants go on a waitlist ranked by priority score, then receive an energy audit, the installed measures and a final inspection ⁠¹⁰. Twenty subgrantees cover all 100 counties ⁠⁵. DEQ publishes each agency’s phone number and counties served ⁠¹¹. In 2025 the program weatherized 838 homes and repaired or replaced 543 HVAC units ⁠⁸. LIHEAP-funded weatherization is capped at $12,000 per household ⁠⁵.

HARRP uses LIHEAP money to clean, tune, repair or replace heating and air conditioning systems for households at or below 200% of poverty ⁠¹³. On November 7, 2025, DEQ paused LIHEAP-funded weatherization and HARRP until NCDHHS received its annual funding. Households already found eligible kept their place in line ⁠¹². The DEQ pages checked for this guide do not announce a restart date, so ask your local agency whether HARRP is taking applications.

Winter disconnection protection under Utilities Commission rules

North Carolina has no statewide low-income electric rate. Its official protection is in the North Carolina Utilities Commission’s disconnection rules: R12-10 for natural gas and R12-11 for electricity ⁠¹⁴. For bills issued November 1 through March 31, a regulated utility may not cut off service without the Commission’s express approval if the customer shows three things ⁠¹⁴:

• someone in the home is 65 or older or disabled;
• the customer cannot pay in full or under an installment plan; and
• the local social services office administering energy crisis assistance has certified the household as eligible, whether or not funds are available.

All year, regulated utilities may not disconnect residential service on Fridays, weekends, state or federal holidays, or the day before a holiday ⁠¹⁴. The rules bind the utilities the Commission regulates, so ask your utility whether they apply to you. Ask DSS for the certification when you apply for CIP in winter.

If the county denies you: local hearing first, then state appeal

You can appeal a denial, a payment you think is too low, or an application that was not processed in time. You have 60 calendar days from the date of the notice to request a hearing, and you can ask orally or in writing. The first hearing is held locally. If you disagree with that decision, request a state appeal within 5 calendar days; the state hearing officer has 15 calendar days to decide. After that, you can seek judicial review in superior court within 30 calendar days ⁠⁵.

For other help in the state, see the North Carolina assistance hub or compare limits across states on the energy and utility assistance page.