Help With Your Electric Bill in Michigan: LIHEAP

Home Heating Credit: forms available mid-to-late January and claims may be filed through September 30 each year - the FY2026 deadline (Sep 30, 2026) is 20 days away as of 10-Sep-2026. State Emergency Relief is open all year, but MDHHS issues only one heat payment and one non-heat electricity payment per household between October 1 and September 30. MEAP referrals through 2-1-1 all year.

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.

State Emergency Relief (SER) is the crisis program. It needs demonstration of immediate need - a past-due or shut-off notice - plus income and asset proof. Apply online at MI Bridges or at an MDHHS office. Call 2-1-1 for MEAP and for help finding the right program. An SER payment also unlocks additional MEAP energy services.

Home Heating Credit: file form MI-1040CR-7 with Treasury (no state income tax return needed); form and instruction book on the Treasury website. SER: apply online through MI Bridges (newmibridges.michigan.gov) or at your local MDHHS office. MEAP: call 2-1-1 for a referral to a grantee.

Home Heating Credit eligibility is based on income, number of exemptions and household heating costs - MDHHS does not publish a single percentage. Weatherization uses 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, and cash assistance or SSI recipients qualify automatically. Winter Protection Plan uses 150% of the federal poverty level.

SER heating fuel: annual maximum $450-$850 depending on the fuel type (may change with available funding). State energy-related home repairs: $4,000 lifetime limit per household.

For SER: proof of immediate need (past-due or shut-off notice), proof of income and assets, and household information. For the Home Heating Credit: your heating costs and exemption information for the MI-1040CR-7.

MPSC-regulated electric and gas utilities: Low Income Winter Protection Plan and Senior Citizen Shutoff Protection both run Nov 1 - Mar 31. Low-income version covers customers at or below 150% FPL or receiving MDHHS cash assistance, SSI, SNAP or Medicaid; the customer must pay at least 7% of the estimated annual bill monthly and must show they applied for heating assistance. Seniors 65+ are protected with no payment condition. Medical Emergency Protection: 21-day hold, extendable up to 63 days per household member and 126 days per household, with a Medical Certification Form. Critical Care Protection for life-support equipment, certified annually. Active-duty military: 90 days. Set up through your utility, not the state: michigan.gov/mpsc/consumer/get-help/utility-customers.

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

Michigan splits the help in two and applying to the wrong one is the common mistake: the Home Heating Credit is a Treasury tax credit, SER is the MDHHS crisis program. MDHHS warns that receiving the Home Heating Credit may affect the amount of Food Assistance a household receives.

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