Updated October 28, 2025 at 10:10 AM EDT
Every year, millions of U.S. households rely on a federally funded program to help pay their home heating bills. While benefits usually kick in on Nov. 1, because of the ongoing government shut down it’s unclear when — or if — that assistance will become available.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program — better known as LIHEAP — helps about 6.7 million American households stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. In normal years, billions of dollars are disbursed to states that administer the program by mid-to-late October. But with no federal spending bill in place, states are nearing the winter heating season without new funding in their coffers.
“This is unprecedented,” said Mark Wolfe, an energy economist and executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, a group that represents state agencies that administer LIHEAP. “I can’t look back at all the years I worked in government and say, ‘Well, last time this happened, this is how it worked out.’ There was no last time like this.”
Past shutdowns have either ended quickly, or occurred after the federal government sent states the bulk of their annual funding, he said.
“If this drags on,” Wolfe said, it will “make the lives of many working and lower income families just much harder.” He noted that the shutdown also threatens funds for other critical welfare programs, like food assistance, and is happening against a backdrop of rising energy prices.
The lack of funding will be especially hard on people in the Northeast, he said, because the region is disproportionately reliant on fuel oil for home heating. About 82% of all homes in the U.S. that use fuel oil are in the Northeast, according to federal data. And while many states forbid utilities from turning off peoples’ gas or electricity service during the winter, no such moratorium exists for people who rely on fuel oil. If they can’t pay to fill their tanks, they will have no heat.
In Massachusetts, the funding limbo has state leaders and advocates worried. Last winter, the state received $144 million to run its heating assistance program. The program helped more than 159,000 low-income households, about 10% of which have a child under 5 years old.
“We should have our appropriation at this point and be working with our community action agencies across the state who distribute the heating assistance,” said Ed Augustus, secretary of the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which oversees the state’s program. Instead, he said he’s fielding questions from families across the state who are worried about staying warm this winter.
To qualify for heating assistance in Massachusetts, a household must make no more than 60% of the state median income. Benefits typically start at about $350-$600 for the year, depending on household income and heating source.
About 56% of HEAP recipients in Massachusetts are senior citizens, according to the state.
“So these are folks who are on fixed incomes,” Augustus said, “and who rely, in many cases, on this assistance to get them through the winter and not have to make really awful choices between skipping medications, scrimping on groceries, keeping a roof over their head, or heating for the winter season.”
In the absence of heating assistance, people may resort to unsafe measures to keep warm, said Sharon Scott-Chandler, president and CEO of the nonprofit Action for Boston Community Development, one of several nonprofits that help administer the state’s home energy assistance program. People may plug in old space heaters or open an oven door, which can pose health and safety risks, she said.
Wolfe of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association put it more bluntly: If the government fails to fund LIHEAP this winter, “You’ll have people die,” he said. “People won’t turn on their furnace. They’ll be afraid of the bill.”
The Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency that runs LIHEAP, blamed Democrats for the government shutdown. In an emailed statement, department spokesperson Emily Hilliard said once the government reopens, the agency “will work swiftly to administer annual awards.”
The government shutdown began Oct. 1 after Democrats and Republicans couldn’t agree on a bill to fund the government’s operations, including the annual LIHEAP appropriation. Democrats have refused to back any measure that doesn’t permanently extend expiring health care tax credits, while Republicans have said they’ll only negotiate about the tax credits after the government reopens.
Across the country, the outlook for LIHEAP looks a little different in each state. In some places, like Massachusetts, government officials may have access to small pots of money to help residents — money that would usually be used to fund outreach and signup efforts in the fall.
Massachusetts has $7 million on hand for heating assistance, according to the Office of Housing and Livable Communities. The state plans to use that money for emergency situations — for instance, a resident whose oil tank is nearly empty and can’t afford to fill it.
“Hopefully, [we can] buy ourselves enough time that the federal shutdown is over, the appropriation gets signed, and we get our typical allocation,” Augustus said.
Still, even if Congress agrees to a spending bill tomorrow to reopen the government, it could take several weeks before states see any new LIHEAP money.
States have to submit annual plans for how they’ll determine eligibility and distribute benefits, and the funding is allocated based on a complicated formula. It typically takes four to six weeks to approve plans for all 50 states and tribal nations, and then get the money out, Wolfe said. What’s more, the roughly two dozen federal workers who typically approve those plans were fired by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year as the Trump administration slashed the size of the federal workforce, he added.
“Here we have a situation where the people with the most knowledge about how the program runs have been fired,” Wolfe said. “So that means they have to look for other staff to review it, or they have to use consultants. All of that slows down the process.”
In Boston, Scott-Chandler of Action for Boston Community Development said her office is bustling with people trying to sign up for benefits, as it typically is at this time of year. But staff are warning applicants to lower their expectations.
She said staff are telling people to sign up and reach out if they face an emergency situation. But beyond that, they can’t provide much reassurance.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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