Help With Your Electric Bill in Rhode Island: LIHEAP

CLOSED right now, about to reopen. DHS says the heating assistance application period closed April 15, 2026 and the program is 'expected to reopen for the next season on October 1'. The same page also says that 'in most cases, applications are taken from September through May each year' - the two statements do not agree, so call your CAP agency before you count on a September date. New applicants should apply in person; households that got a benefit last year are usually mailed renewal forms by their CAP agency.

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 Assistance: a grant to resolve a home heating crisis caused by a heat shut-off for not paying a regulated energy bill, an inability to pay for deliverable fuel, or a heating system failure that cannot be repaired. Requested through your CAP agency. DHS does not publish a separate crisis phone line.

Through your local Community Action Program agency (find it at ricommunityaction.org), or online at the DHS self-intake portal https://pro.hancocksoftware.com/RI_ClientSelfIntake/?Agency=DHS - you must verify your email within 30 minutes of creating the account or you start over. CAP agencies arrange intake sites for older adults and people with disabilities.

Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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.

Winter termination moratorium, 12:01am November 1 to 11:59pm May 1 (RI PUC rules, 810-RICR-10-00-1; it was extended from April 15 to May 1 by a 2024 law). During it a gas or electric utility may not shut off a primary heat source for a delinquent balance unless it exceeds $500, or $200 for non-heat service - and may not shut off a 'Protected Status Customer' at all (65+, seriously ill, disabled, unemployed, a household with a child under two, or a family receiving certain aid; written LIHEAP enrollment verification counts as proof). Separately, service may not be cut while a resident is seriously ill, certified by a physician - a phone certification counts if written confirmation follows within 7 days. If a protected customer was shut off unknowingly, service must be restored immediately.

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

The 'current guidelines' link on the DHS eligibility page is still labelled FFY 2025 but redirects to the FFY 2026 table. You must qualify for LIHEAP first to be eligible for Weatherization, Appliance Management or heating system repair/replacement. Denials can be appealed within 15 days of receiving the denial letter using the First Appeal Request Form (available in English, Spanish and Portuguese).

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