New York gets 401,241,711 dollars in help paying heating bills this year

New York households can get help paying heating bills this year

New York 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 New York 401,241,711 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. The total includes 5,774,839 dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a separate law that adds supplemental money on top of the program regular funding. New York received the money in 2 releases, and it flows through the state to local social service districts and community agencies that decide who qualifies and pay the energy provider directly.

How much a New York household can get, and who qualifies

A household earning at or below 60% of the state median income, the income level in the middle of all New York households, or at or below 150% of the federal poverty level for a household of 14 or more, the government income threshold for poverty adjusted for family size, can qualify for heating assistance, and the same limits apply to crisis assistance if a household faces a shutoff or an empty tank. Heating assistance pays between 21 dollars and 996 dollars toward a bill, cooling assistance pays between 10 dollars and 1,000 dollars, and winter crisis assistance pays up to 900 dollars in a winter, New York figures show. A household can apply for heating assistance from November 3 through April 7, for cooling assistance from April 15 through June 22, and for winter crisis assistance from January 2 through April 7.

Why the money arrived in 2 parts, months apart

A federal government shutdown delayed the regular release of federal fiscal year 2026 LIHEAP money nationwide, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the Trump administration had not released the 4,000,000,000 dollar national LIHEAP total as of her November 20, 2025 press conference, weeks after states typically receive it.

As energy prices rise and temperatures drop, the Trump administration is leaving New Yorkers out in the cold by refusing to release LIHEAP funding.

Kirsten Gillibrand, United States Senator for New York. Source 5.

The federal government released the first block grant nationally on November 28, 2025, and a federal disbursement table dated November 20, 2025 shows that New York received 360,885,396 dollars in that first release. That table breaks the money down further than any summary of it does, into 355,110,557 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 5,774,839 dollars from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The federal government released a second, final block grant nationally on April 17, 2026, covering the remaining held back funds plus new money Congress added afterward under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, and by then the total sent to New York for the year reached 401,241,711 dollars. Recipients including New York 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, with any remainder carried into federal fiscal year 2027.

The Trump administration must immediately follow the law and release LIHEAP funding so that New Yorkers can stay warm without breaking the bank.

Kirsten Gillibrand, United States Senator for New York. Source 5.

How many households the money already helped

New York reported that 1,145,065 households received heating assistance, 101,748 households received winter crisis assistance, and 6,368 households received weatherization assistance in federal fiscal year 2024.