BOSTON – Governor Maura Healey today announced that the Trump Administration has released federal funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). After more than a month’s delay, the federal funding was released yesterday, and all applications can now be processed.
“For more than a month, President Trump has forced American families to wait in the cold,” said Governor Healey. “As we hit cold winter weather, we are relieved that funds are finally flowing now, and families can apply for help heating their homes. Our team has worked to make this funding available immediately, because our families cannot afford to wait. I’m grateful to Secretary Augustus and the team at the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities for taking the necessary steps to ensure we were prepared to get the program started again as soon as the federal funding was made available.”
“Home energy assistance is one of the most important tools we have to keep people safe in the winter. For many of the households we serve each year, HEAP is the difference between a warm home and an impossible choice between heat, food and medicine,” said Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. “Now that this funding has been released, our team and our local partners are moving quickly so that seniors, families with children and people with disabilities can get the help they need as the cold weather sets in.”
LIHEAP is a federal program, referred to as the Massachusetts Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) in Massachusetts, that typically helps more than 150,000 Massachusetts households, representing over 300,000 people, afford to heat their homes during the winter each year. This federal funding usually becomes available in early November, but it was delayed due to the federal government shutdown. Even after the government reopened on November 13, it took the Trump Administration nearly three weeks to release funding – a delay that Governor Healey criticized.
During the pause, the Healey-Driscoll Administration utilized leftover federal funding from last year to support households with a heating emergency. The Department of Public Utilities also extended its shut-off moratorium to October 27, 2025 – April 1, 2026.
All eligible HEAP clients are now able to apply online for heating assistance.