How to apply for the weatherization assistance program in Colorado
A Colorado household can apply for help under the weatherization assistance program if it meets income eligibility rules, and the state just received 5.8 million dollars in new federal money to spend on the work this year. The decades old program pays to seal, insulate and upgrade the homes of income eligible households so their utility bills fall, at no cost to the family. A household that qualifies saves an average of 372 dollars a year, the United States Department of Energy states, against a Colorado household bill that already averages 568 dollars a month for gas, water, electricity and trash, a figure The Gazette sourced to Xcel Energy.
The saving figure is a yearly average. The bill figure is a monthly average. Both are stated by The Gazette, the bill figure sourced by The Gazette to Xcel Energy.
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| Average, monthly bill | 568 |
| Average yearly, saving | 372 |
Why the new money almost missed Colorado this year
The money almost did not arrive on time. In May 2026, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado joined Senators Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Susan Collins of Maine in a letter urging Energy Secretary Chris Wright to release close to 360 million dollars in weatherization assistance program funds nationally. The senators said the instructions states need to apply for that money had not been published by December, the month they usually appear. Bennet described what the funding does for Colorado families.
This funding will boost residential energy efficiency across the state, improve energy security, and save hundreds of dollars for Colorado families.
Michael Bennet, United States Senator for Colorado. Source 1.
A bill aimed at stopping the delay happening again
The delay is not new. A separate bill, the Investing in State Energy Act, from Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Susan Collins of Maine, would force the Department of Energy to release weatherization assistance program and State Energy Program grants on a fixed schedule every year, instead of after a letter each time delivery slips. It has been reintroduced every session of Congress since 2017 without yet becoming law. Shaheen said the money needs to move quickly, so families can use it for efficiency upgrades that lower their bills, and states can invest in more reliable, more affordable energy.
What the weatherization assistance program does nationally, and what changed this year
The Department of Energy has run the weatherization assistance program since 1976, helping more than 7.2 million families and now reaching about 32,000 homes a year while supporting 8,500 jobs, the department states. This year the department also cancelled Weatherization Program Notice 22 10, a rule that had required weatherization audits to weigh the social cost of carbon and other non energy impacts, and its own funding announcement calls the cancellation the removal of a burdensome requirement. The prior funding cycle, in July 2025, released over 400 million dollars nationally across weatherization and energy programs, going to 56 grantees, every state, the District of Columbia and 5 United States territories. The department states households save a minimum of 1 dollar in energy costs for every 1 dollar invested, plus an average of 514 dollars in reduced medical expenses.
This is the funding cycle before the current one. It is not a breakdown of the 5.8 million dollars Colorado received this year or of the close to 360 million dollars senators sought released in 2026.
Show the numbers
| Weatherization Assistance Program | 325 |
| State Energy Program | 64 |
| Weatherization Readiness Funds | 30 |