How much money you can get from the Ohio winter crisis program depends on your utility, 175 dollars for most households and up to 750 for a few.

How much money you can get from the Ohio winter crisis program

If you live in Ohio and are behind on a heating bill, or already have a disconnection notice, the Ohio winter crisis program can help, but the amount it pays depends on who supplies your electricity or gas. The program, also called Emergency HEAP, opens November 1, 2026 and closes March 31, 2027, and pays a household 1 time toward its heating bill once each season, according to the Office of the Ohio Consumers Counsel, the state agency that represents residential utility customers.

Why 750 dollars is not what most households get

The Office of the Ohio Consumers Counsel lists 5 separate benefit maximums side by side in 1 fact sheet, a detail this site read directly from the state document rather than from a summary of it. A customer of a regulated gas or electric utility, the kind most Ohio households actually have, can get up to 175 dollars. A customer of a non regulated utility, meaning a municipal system or a cooperative, can get up to 750 dollars, more than 4 times as much for the same program. That gap, our own calculation from the 2 figures the state agency itself states, comes to about 4.3 times. A household burning bulk fuel such as kerosene, propane or fuel oil can get up to 1,200 dollars. A wood or coal household can get up to 650 dollars. A household whose heating unit has failed can get up to 1,500 dollars toward its repair or replacement.

Who qualifies and how the limit grows with your household

A household qualifies for the Winter Crisis Program at or below 175% of the federal poverty guidelines for households up to 7 people, or 60% of the state median income for 8 or more, for the 2026 to 2027 program year. For 1 person, that limit is 27,930 dollars a year. For a household of 4, it is 57,750 dollars. For a household of 7, it is 87,570 dollars.

A second program caps what you owe every month

A separate program, the Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus, runs year round rather than once a season, and caps what an eligible household pays every month instead of paying a lump sum toward a bill. A household that heats with gas pays 5% of its monthly income toward gas and electric bills combined. A household that heats with electricity alone pays 10% of its monthly income, exactly double, toward the same kind of payment plan. Every plan carries a 10 dollar minimum payment. A household that makes its full payment on time gets a credit against its unpaid balance with every payment, and clears the whole balance completely after 24 straight on time, in full payments, about 2 years.

Both programs share 1 combined application, according to the state application form the Department of Job and Family Services publishes, so 1 signature can put a household on the Winter Crisis Program and the Percentage of Income Payment Plan Plus at the same time.