Help With Your Electric Bill in New Mexico: LIHEAP

New Mexico does not publish its application dates. Call 800-283-4465 and ask when the current season opens — and ask about crisis help in the same call if your power is at risk.

Crisis LIHEAP. ISD processes you faster if you have disconnected utility service, a disconnect notice, or are almost out of wood, propane or other bulk fuel — bring a copy of the disconnect notice. Rule 8.150.520.16 NMAC goes further: a household OVER the income standard can still qualify for a crisis LIHEAP benefit, and in those cases ISD may use net rather than gross income after weighing any financial crisis in the last 30 days. A separate 'life-threatening crisis' category exists where the emergency threatens the health or safety of a household member. Call (800) 283-4465.

Online through the YesNM portal at https://yes.nm.gov/, or by completing the fillable LIHEAP application (form LHP-602, revised 1 May 2026, available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese at hca.nm.gov) and dropping it off or mailing it to your local Income Support Division office. The form is for LIHEAP only. It must be signed and dated on the last page or it is not valid.

New Mexico does not publish an income table on the page we read. Do not use another state's: states pick either 150% of the federal poverty level or 60% of the state median income, and the two give very different answers.

New Mexico 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.

A fully completed application; proof of identity for one adult in the home; non-citizen immigrant status for anyone applying, if applicable; proof of disability only if you do not receive disability income; proof of income for the last 30 days; proof of heating or cooling cost and the account number at your current address; and, for a crisis, the disconnect notice, a statement of non-delivery of bulk fuel, or a statement of the cost of starting service.

Winter moratorium November 15 through March 15 (8.150.600.11 NMAC). No utility vendor regulated by the Public Regulation Commission may disconnect residential heating service in that window for a qualifying customer. To qualify, gross household income must be at or below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, OR a household member gets SSI, OR a member is eligible for a federally funded ISD program with guidelines at or below 150% FPL. The utility account does not have to be in the name of the public assistance recipient. Proof is an HCA approval notice, a computer-generated notice from HCA, or a form completed by hand at a local ISD office. HCA (or a tribal entity running its own program) is the body that certifies you. Rule: https://www.srca.nm.gov/parts/title08/08.150.0600.html

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

The moratorium certification is the part people miss: protection is not automatic with low income, someone at HCA or your tribal program has to certify you, and you must also meet the PRC's own requirements. Tribal and pueblo households may go through their own entity instead. Most people who qualify for LIHEAP qualify for other HCA services.

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