Michigan households can get help paying heating bills this year
Michigan households looking for help paying heating bills now have the full federal allocation behind that help for the current heating season. The federal government sent Michigan 183,316,283 dollars for federal fiscal year 2026 under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, a program that pays part of a household heating bill directly to its energy provider rather than sending cash to the household. Michigan received the money in 2 releases, and it flows through the state to local community agencies that decide who qualifies and pay the energy provider directly.
How much a Michigan household can get, and who qualifies
A household earning at or below 110% of the federal poverty guidelines can qualify for heating assistance, and a household at or below 150% of those guidelines can qualify for crisis assistance if it faces a shutoff or an empty tank. Heating assistance pays between 1 dollar and 2,205 dollars toward a bill, and crisis assistance pays up to 900 dollars in a winter, Michigan figures show. A household can apply for heating assistance from January 1 through September 30, and can apply for crisis assistance at any time of year.
Show the numbers
| Heating assistance | 1 to 2,205 dollars |
Why the money arrived in 2 parts, months apart
A federal government shutdown delayed the regular release of federal fiscal year 2026 LIHEAP money, and Michigan was projected to run out of leftover money from the prior year by mid to late November 2025 before any new money arrived, the office of Representative Hillary Scholten said. The federal government released the first block grant nationally on November 28, 2025, and a federal disbursement table dated November 20, 2025 shows that Michigan received 164,745,415 dollars in that first release. That table breaks the money down further than any summary of it does, into 160,149,073 dollars from the Continuing Resolution award, funding tied to a stopgap law Congress uses to keep the government funded without a full year budget, and 4,596,342 dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a separate law that adds supplemental money on top. The federal government released a second, final block grant nationally on April 17, 2026, covering the remaining 10% of the first release plus new money Congress added afterward, and by then the total sent to Michigan for the year reached 183,316,283 dollars. Recipients including Michigan must commit at least 90% of the combined Continuing Resolution and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act money from the first release by September 30, 2026.
Michigan received 164,745,415 dollars from this first release, itemized elsewhere as 160,149,073 dollars from the Continuing Resolution award and 4,596,342 dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Show the numbers
| First release total | 3,713.9 |
| Regular block grant | 3,613.9 |
| Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act | 100 |
How many households the money already helped
Michigan reported that 434,124 households received heating assistance, 129,420 households received year round crisis assistance, and 1,280 households received weatherization assistance in federal fiscal year 2024. The office of Representative Hillary Scholten separately said 430,000 Michiganders relied on LIHEAP in federal fiscal year 2023, a different measure counting people rather than households and from an earlier year, so it should not be compared directly against the household figures above.
Show the numbers
| Heating assistance | 434,124 |
| Year round crisis assistance | 129,420 |
| Weatherization assistance | 1,280 |