Since Congress created it in 1981, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has helped people pay for air conditioning costs in the summer and heating costs in the winter by directly covering their utility bills.
Funding for LIHEAP comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but it's administered by state and tribal governments. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) opened its applications for summer energy assistance on Tuesday.
Generally, OKDHS provides summer energy assistance to more than 100,000 households. A similar number of Oklahomans receive LIHEAP assistance in the winter.
To qualify for the program, a household (which OKDHS defines as a person or group of people using one utility meter or energy source) must meet the following monthly income caps:
LIHEAP INCOME ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES
The maximum monthly gross income allowed per household size is:
- 1 person: $1,632
- 2 people: $2,215
- 3 people: $2,798
- 4 people: $3,380
- 5 people: $3,963
- 6 people: $4,546
- 7 people: $5,129
- 8 people: $5,712
Oklahoma residents can apply at OKDHSLive.org, which will require the following information:
- Most recent cooling bill information for their home
- Government-issued ID
- Social security number
- Verification of income
Funding is limited, so eligible applicants are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Oklahomans who live within a tribe's service area and hold a Certificate Degree of Indian Blood may be eligible for tribal LIHEAP as well. However, each household can only receive summer cooling assistance from one entity.
The program has faced challenges at the federal level this year. The Trump Administration's threats to cut LIHEAP funding haven't come to fruition, but the program's entire federal staff was fired in April.
An Oklahoma DHS spokesperson said this year's programs will operate as normal.
"The funding level for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is consistent with previous years," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The allocated funding for FFY [Federal Fiscal Year] 2025 will allow us to continue to operate our programs including Summer cooling for this fiscal year."
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