Help With Your Electric Bill in Georgia: LIHEAP

Nothing is open on 10 Sep 2026. Heating Program typically opens the FIRST WORKDAY OF DECEMBER for residents aged 65+ or medically homebound, and the first workday of JANUARY for everyone else — so around Tue 1 Dec 2026 and Mon 4 Jan 2027. Cooling Program typically opens the first workday of April for 65+/medically homebound and the first workday of May for everyone else; in 2026 DHS announced cooling opened 1 April 2026, and that window has passed. First come, first served by each agency — apply early before funding runs out. Georgia says 'typically', not a guaranteed date.

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.

Energy crisis assistance exists for households in a heating or cooling emergency that is LIFE THREATENING — that is the standard Georgia states. There is no separate crisis hotline or application published on the DFCS page: it runs through the same Community Action Agency, so call your county CAA, or 404-656-2323 / 1-877-423-4746 in metro Atlanta. Detail is in the LIHEAP heating and cooling FAQ PDFs and the state plan.

Through the Community Action Agency serving your county. Provider map: dfcs.georgia.gov/document/document/liheap-lihwap-provider-map-revised-100621/download; CAA list at georgiacaa.org. There is a state online system at eapapp.dhs.ga.gov — complete the prescreening questions on the Home tab before creating a profile. In metro Atlanta, call the Community-Based Program Unit at 404-656-2323 or 1-877-423-4746 for your county's number. All energy assistance and any interpreter services are free.

Total gross ANNUAL household income at or below 60% of Georgia's state median income; applicant must be a US citizen or legally admitted immigrant and have full responsibility for paying the primary home heating bill. Georgia does not publish the dollar table on this page. Disqualifier worth knowing: a household is NOT eligible if its energy bill carries a credit of $1,000 or more.

Georgia does not publish the benefit amounts on the page we read. It is paid to the utility, not to you, and depends on household size, income and fuel type.

Not itemized on the Georgia page we read. Expect ID, a recent energy bill, proof of income for everyone in the household and, if you have one, the shut-off notice.

Georgia PSC Rule 515-3-2-.04 seasonal hold: a utility shall not cut off gas or electric service to a residential customer between 15 November and 15 March if the forecast local temperature is below 32F for the 24-hour period beginning at 8:00 a.m. on the proposed disconnection date, AND the customer agrees in writing to pay the past-due balance in equal instalments. Outside that, residential electric can be disconnected once a bill is 45 days past due. PSC consumer pages: psc.ga.gov/about-the-psc/consumer-corner/.

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

The two-tier opening is the thing to get right: 65+ and medically homebound get a whole month's head start in both seasons. Also note DFCS links an FFY27 state plan draft, so FY2027 dates could shift. Related: the HEAT (Heating Energy Assistance Team) fund at heatga.org is a separate charity top-up, not LIHEAP.

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