Massachusetts Winter Heating Help: Fuel Assistance and Shutoffs
How HEAP fuel assistance works this winter, who is protected from utility shutoffs, how budget billing smooths bills, and who to call.
Heating a Massachusetts home in January is not cheap, and the help that exists is easy to miss because it lives in several places: a state fuel program run by local agencies, protections against shutoffs, and billing plans from the utilities. This guide puts them in one place, in plain English, with the official source for each.
Programs and benefit amounts change, so use the phone numbers and links below to confirm current rules before you rely on any figure.
Fuel assistance (HEAP): the basics
The Home Energy Assistance Program, usually called HEAP or fuel assistance, is the state’s version of the federal LIHEAP program. It helps eligible households pay winter heating bills. According to MASSCAP, the statewide association of community action agencies, this year’s program runs November 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027, and online applications opened October 1, 2026.
A few points people often get wrong:
- Homeowners and renters both qualify, including renters whose heat is included in the rent.
- You don’t have to be behind on bills or on other benefits, according to MassLandlords’ Oct. 22, 2026 summary of the program.
- You reapply every year.
- Heating fuel payments go directly to the fuel company.
- MassLandlords adds that the application also covers the state’s heating system repair and replacement program and the weatherization program, and enrolling can bring discounts on telephone, electric, gas and oil bills, MASSCAP says.
Who qualifies
Household income can’t exceed 60 percent of the estimated state median income, counting the gross annual income of every adult in the home. The FY2027 limits in the MASSCAP chart:
| Household size | Gross annual income limit |
|---|---|
| 1 | $53,585 |
| 2 | $70,073 |
| 3 | $86,561 |
| 4 | $103,049 |
| 5 | $119,536 |
| 6 | $136,024 |
Larger households are in the full chart linked above.
How much it pays
Benefits vary with household size, income, heating source and housing situation. In the FY2027 chart, the highest listed tier for homeowners and tenants who don’t live in subsidized housing is $600 for deliverable fuel (oil, propane, kerosene) and $500 for utility and heat-included-in-rent. Subsidized tenants top out at $420 and $350. Benefits step down as income rises. A separate “High Energy Cost Supplement” is in the chart, but its thresholds were still marked “TBD” in the version we read, so we can’t tell you what it will pay.
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One caution: last winter ABCD’s December release described maximum benefits of $1,000 for deliverable fuel and $850 for utilities. Those are not the same numbers as the FY2027 chart, and we couldn’t reconcile them from the sources we could read. Your award letter is the number that counts.
A new benefit for middle-income oil customers
For households that heat with oil, earn between 60 and 100 percent of state median income, and don’t qualify for HEAP, the state announced a one-time benefit of up to $680 per household. MassLandlords reports the application is expected to open in December 2026, and the state has an interest form to be notified when it does.
Where to apply
You can apply online through mass.gov, in person at a local agency, or by mail. The agency depends on your town. A few we verified:
- Greater Boston and the Mystic Valley: ABCD. Its December 2025 release said all Massachusetts residents can apply online at mass.gov/heap, and gave 781-322-6284 ext. 334 for Mystic Valley clients checking status.
- Lynn: LEO Inc. lists Home Energy Assistance as a service, main number 781.581.7220.
- Cape Ann (Gloucester area): Action Inc. lists a Home Energy Assistance Program with fuel assistance.
MASSCAP has a “find your agency” tool on its heating help page for every other town.
Utility shutoff protections in winter
Fuel assistance helps pay. Shutoff protections keep the lights and heat on while you sort out payment. Massachusetts has two kinds, and neither is automatic.
The winter moratorium
Under state regulation 220 CMR 25.03, the standard winter protection runs November 15 to March 15. It covers a household whose utility service provides heat, that can’t pay because of financial hardship, and whose service wasn’t shut off for nonpayment before November 15. Last winter the Department of Public Utilities started the moratorium early, on October 27, 2025, and extended it to April 1, 2026, ABCD reported, as federal aid was delayed. The DPU had not announced 2026-27 dates as of November 9; check its winter bills page on mass.gov or call 1-877-886-5066.
What matters more is who is covered. According to advocacy sources summarizing the rules, customers who have submitted verification of financial hardship to their utility, or who already receive the low-income discount rate, have their electric or gas heat protected. The Councils on Aging say plainly that this doesn’t happen automatically: each utility has its own hardship form (Berkshire Gas, Eversource, and National Grid each have one).
Year-round protection for some households
ABCD lists situations where the utility can’t shut off electricity or gas without DPU permission:
- If everyone in the home is 65 or older.
- If you are experiencing financial hardship and someone in the home is seriously ill.
- If you are experiencing financial hardship and there is an infant under 12 months old in the home.
The Councils on Aging also point to a DPU “no shut off” list as a further route and note that some gas heating systems need electricity to run. Gas customers are protected from losing gas as the primary heat source, but their electricity can still be cut off, so protect every utility tied to your heating system.
Budget billing
Budget billing doesn’t lower what you use. It spreads the cost so a January bill doesn’t arrive as a shock. Both major utilities offer it:
- Eversource says budget billing divides annual electric and gas usage into level monthly payments. The starting payment is based on your past 12 or six months of use, divided by 11 and multiplied by the current rate. Eversource reviews and adjusts the amount, and customers are re-enrolled each year unless they opt out.
- National Grid says its budget plan turns what you usually pay in a year into twelve balanced monthly payments, based on the prior year’s use, with adjustments possible as your pattern becomes clearer.
Call your utility to sign up. Ask what happens at the end of the twelve months and what the plan does to any past-due balance.
Other help to know about
- Good Neighbor Energy Fund. For limited-income households not eligible for fuel assistance, MASSCAP points to the fund run by the Salvation Army: 1-800-334-3047 for area codes 617, 508, 781 and 978.
- Mass 2-1-1. Dial 211 for non-emergency social services.
- Utility problems. The DPU’s consumer line is 1-877-886-5066.
- Mass Save. MASSCAP also lists Mass Save for help with energy costs and home assessments. Our Mass Save heat pump rebates explainer walks through that program, and our ice dam guide and first snow checklist cover keeping the house itself in shape.
Your next three calls
- Your local fuel assistance agency, to apply or check on an application.
- Your electric or gas utility, to ask for the hardship form and about a payment plan or budget billing.
- Your fuel dealer, if you use oil or propane, to ask how HEAP payments will be applied to your account.
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Sources
- 220 CMR 25.03, winter heat shutoff protectionlaw.cornell.edu
- MASSCAP, Heating Help in Massachusettsmasscap.org
- MASSCAP, FY2027 HEAP income eligibility and benefit chart (PDF)masscap.org
- MassLandlords, application period open for winter 2026-27 HEAP (Oct. 22, 2026)masslandlords.net
- ABCD, LIHEAP funding and winter moratorium (Dec. 15, 2025)bostonabcd.org
- Massachusetts Councils on Aging, HEAP update and shutoff protectionmcoaonline.org
- Mass.gov, apply for HEAPmass.gov
- Mass.gov, information on winter bills (DPU)mass.gov
- Eversource, budget billingeversource.com
- National Grid, budget plan (Massachusetts)nationalgrid.com
- LEO Inc., Lynnleoinc.org
- Action Inc., Gloucesteractioninc.org
Details such as dates, hours and prices come from the sources above and can change. Check with the organizer before you go.
