Help With Your Electric Bill in Maryland: Office of Home Energy Programs

OPEN NOW. Maryland runs OHEP all year - the state page says plainly 'A Year Round Program'. The program year runs July 1 to June 30, and EUSP is available once per program year. There is no seasonal opening or closing date to wait for, and one application covers MEAP, EUSP and Arrearage Retirement.

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.

Two routes. The Utility Service Protection Program (USPP) shields low-income households from turn-offs during the heating season - every MEAP-eligible customer can join, but it requires year-round even monthly budget billing and missing consecutive payments gets you removed. Separately, the Critical Medical Needs Program (CMNP, COMAR 07.03.25) fast-tracks applications for households with a medically vulnerable member where losing service would be a serious risk to health; referrals come through approved partners such as hospitals and assisted living facilities ([email protected]). There is also a Crisis Season Declaration form (DHS-FIA-805) in the application packet. Main line 1-800-332-6347.

Five ways: online at https://benefits.maryland.gov (MarylandBenefits.gov); by dropping the paper form DHS-FIA-9780 in a drop box at a local office; by mail to your Local Home Energy Program Office; by telephone (apply by phone, then mail or email the documents - clear photos are accepted); or in person at your local OHEP office. Paper applications can be requested by calling 1-800-332-6347. All forms must be printed and signed by hand. Check status at myohepstatus.maryland.gov.

MEAP pays the fuel supplier or utility on your behalf toward heating. EUSP is the electric grant, once per program year. Arrearage Retirement Assistance pays up to $2,000 toward a past-due electric bill and up to $1,000 toward a past-due gas bill; you need a past-due balance of $300 or more, and you can only get one arrearage grant every five years (grants received between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 do not count toward that limit).

Applicant's photo ID; proof of residency; Social Security cards for everyone in the household; gross income for the last 30 days; a utility bill and heating bill. Supplemental forms exist for alimony/child support, zero income, self-employment, a landlord agreement and physician certification.

Winter restriction November 1 through March 31 (COMAR 20.31.03.03): an electric and/or gas utility may not terminate residential service for non-payment unless it first files an affidavit with the Public Service Commission, at least 24 hours before, certifying that the termination is not a threat to the life or health of the occupants; once filed, the affidavit is valid for 12 days after the last personal contact attempt. Two temperature rules sit on top: no winter termination if the 6 a.m. forecast for the utility's weather station area is 32F or below, and no summer termination of electric service (or of gas used for cooling, if you told the gas utility) if that 6 a.m. forecast is 95F or above. And a serious medical condition or life-support need, certified by a doctor on a Commission-approved form before the termination notice expires, buys 30 more days - during which you must agree a payment plan.

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

The OHEP homepage still carries a stale 'HEAT ADVISORY' banner about July 2-4, so read the banners with caution - the income table and the application pages are current (FY27). The FY27 State Plan and Operations Manual are on the OHEP Bulletin page.

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