Massachusetts Families Earning Up to $171,749 Can Get a New Heating Oil Benefit of Up to $680 This Winter Under Healey’s Energy Emergency

A Massachusetts family of four earning $150,000 a year earns too much for the state’s regular heating assistance program. This winter, if that family heats with oil, it can still get help: a new one-time benefit of up to $680 for households earning between 60% and 100% of state median income, or up to $171,749 for a family of four.

Gov. Maura Healey created the benefit as part of an energy emergency she declared on Oct. 5. The state expects about 50,000 oil-heated households to qualify, with assistance starting in December.

Who fits between 60% and 100% of median income

The program is aimed at households that earn too much for the federal Home Energy Assistance Program but still feel the price of oil. The state’s Middle-Income Heating Oil Relief page lists these fiscal 2027 income ranges, from just above 60% of state median income up to 100%:

• 1 person: $53,586 to $89,308
• 2 people: $70,074 to $116,788
• 3 people: $86,562 to $144,268
• 4 people: $103,050 to $171,749
• 5 people: $119,537 to $199,227
• 6 people: $136,025 to $226,707

The benefit is for homes that heat with No. 2 heating oil. Households that use natural gas or electric heat are not part of this program, though they benefit from other pieces of the winter plan.

Heating oil is where prices have jumped hardest. Home heating oil averaged $6.12 a gallon in early October, up nearly 75% from a year earlier, according to state Department of Energy Resources data cited by Utility Dive.

Where the $680 comes from

Healey’s Executive Order No. 659 directs the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to create the one-time benefit for this winter. It tells the Department of Energy Resources and the Department of Environmental Protection to identify alternative compliance payment funds to help pay for it.

Those payments come from electricity suppliers that fall short of the state’s clean energy targets. Not everyone likes the choice. Larry Chretien, executive director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, told Utility Dive that oil prices have risen enough that “the state needs to supplement federal support,” but said his group would rather the money come from the general fund.

The order stays in effect until April 30, 2027. It also directs the state to survey and publish heating oil and propane prices through the season and to enforce rules against price gouging on petroleum products.

What changes for low-income HEAP households

Families below 60% of median income stay in HEAP, and their benefits are rising too. The governor’s office said in its Oct. 5 announcement that $15 million in additional money will raise HEAP benefits for about 156,000 low-income households, with oil-heated homes getting a 20% increase and utility-heated homes 15%.

Current HEAP benefits run about $525 to $1,200 per household. The program runs from Nov. 1, 2026, through April 30, 2027. Renters whose heat is included in their rent can qualify, and applicants do not need to be on public assistance or behind on their heating bills. Applications go through mass.gov/heatinghelp or local administering agencies.

The state has been here before. Last winter, the administration raised HEAP benefits in March 2026 after finding that about 72% of HEAP clients, roughly 54,000 households, had less than $100 in heating benefits left for the rest of the season. That release projected the maximum benefit for oil, propane and kerosene rising from $1,000 to $1,400. HEAP served more than 159,000 households in 2024-2025, and about 54% of them were seniors on fixed incomes.

Other parts of the plan reach nearly every ratepayer. The state is spending $80 million to remove the SMART solar program charge from residential and commercial electric bills for January through March 2027, and is cutting Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard costs by 50% this winter, which the governor’s office estimates is worth $20 million. The administration says the full package, nearly $150 million, will lower energy bills for about 85% of ratepayers.

Healey said the state would use “every tool” it has to get people relief, NBC Boston reported. She tied the jump in energy costs to the war in Iran and blamed the Trump administration, according to the station.

Applications start in December

The middle-income benefit is not open yet. The state page says applications open in December 2026, and assistance will run until April 30, 2027, or until funding runs out. For now, households can fill out an Expanded Heating Assistance Interest Form on the state’s website to be notified when the program opens. The state says that form is not the application itself.

The governor’s office has also asked Congress for an additional $3 billion in emergency LIHEAP funding, which would bring the national program to $7 billion. A new Emergency Winter Warmth Fund, started with Citizens Energy Corporation and an initial $100,000 contribution, will support both low-income heating aid and the new middle-income oil benefit.

Massachusetts is not the only state widening its winter help. Connecticut moved $12.7 million in state money into its heating program this fall, and New Jersey’s family-of-four income limit for LIHEAP is $98,602, close to where the new Massachusetts benefit begins.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: King of Hearts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons