Help With Your Electric Bill in Arkansas: LIHEAP

First come, first served, in two periods each year: typically January to April 30 (winter) and July to September 30 (summer). The page said 'LIHEAP Program Open' when read on 10 Sep 2026, so the summer window is open and ends 30 Sep 2026. Exact FY2027 winter opening date is not published; expect January. AEO gives no funds-exhausted clause but benefits are first-come.

Dates move every year and most states stop taking applications when the money runs out, not on the closing date. Checked Sep 10, 2026 — confirm before you count on it.

Crisis benefit: up to a policy maximum, to prevent disconnection, restore service, or deliver fuel when the supply is depleted. There is no state crisis hotline — you request it from your county CBO, which discusses available benefits with each applicant. Also try findhelp.org by ZIP for non-LIHEAP help.

Only through the community-based organization for your county — AEO does NOT process applications and asks that nothing be sent to it. Find your CBO at arkansasenergy.org/energy/assistance/caad.aspx (click your county on the map or use the drop-down). A fillable sample application is at arkansasenergy.org/energy/assistance/pdfs/fillable_aeo-9495_liheap-long-application.pdf. One application per program per benefit type.

Regular benefit is a fixed amount from a model using household income, household size and energy source (electric, gas, propane, wood, pellets, fuel oil) — AEO publishes a separate benefit matrix PDF per fuel. Crisis benefit is capped by policy; the amount is not published.

Photo ID; Social Security card for household members 18+; Social Security numbers for minors; copies of your most recent utility bills; proof of income; proof of residency (a current utility bill works). Lease agreement if utilities are in the rent.

No seasonal moratorium; Arkansas uses weather triggers. Cold Weather Rule (23 CAR 455-615): electric and gas utilities may not suspend residential service on a day the National Weather Service forecasts 32F or lower within the next 24 hours. Hot Weather Rule: no suspension for a customer aged 65+ or disabled when 95F is forecast in the next 24 hours. Rules are the Arkansas Public Service Commission's — apsc.arkansas.gov/consumer-services/suspension-of-service/.

This comes from the Arkansas utility commission, not from the energy assistance programme — they are different offices and only one of them publishes it.

Arkansas LIHEAP moved to the Energy Office at arkansasenergy.org — the old humanservices.arkansas.gov LIHEAP URL now 404s, so any page still linking DHS is sending people nowhere. AEO warns LIHEAP never charges a fee and runs a benefits fraud reporting form.

In most states the same office runs SNAP food benefits, and receiving one often makes the other automatic or faster. SNAP in Arkansas →