New Hampshire Raised Its Top Fuel Assistance Benefit by $323 to $2,500 This Winter, With Help for a Family of Four Earning Up to Nearly $94,000
The most a New Hampshire household can collect from the state’s Fuel Assistance Program this winter is $2,500, which is $323 more than last year’s top benefit. The New Hampshire Department of Energy confirmed the increase, about 15%, as heating oil climbed toward $6 a gallon, New Hampshire Public Radio reported.
The program reaches well into the middle class. Households earning up to 60% of the state median income qualify, which works out to nearly $94,000 a year for a family of four.
From $2,177 to $2,500
The jump shows up in the agencies’ own materials. The Department of Energy’s Fuel Assistance page still lists last season’s range, saying benefits run from $100 to $2,177 depending on household income and energy costs, with an average benefit of $1,282.86.
For the 2026-2027 season, Community Action Partnership of Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties lists grants from $188 to $2,500. The agency notes the grants don’t have to be repaid.
The Department of Energy says benefits are based on household income, energy costs, regional heating degree days and housing type. That means two families with the same income can receive different amounts if one lives in a colder part of the state or in a different type of home.
Few households get the maximum. Terra Rogers, director of energy services at Southwestern Community Services in Keene, told NHPR the average benefit in her area is about $1,200.
Income limits for a family of four near $94,000
The cutoff is 60% of state median income. Southwestern Community Services, which serves Cheshire and Sullivan counties, lists these yearly limits for the Fuel Assistance Program:
- 1 person: $48,713
- 2 people: $63,702
- 3 people: $78,691
- 4 people: $93,680
- 5 people: $108,668
- 6 people: $123,657
- 7 people: $126,468
- 8 people: $129,278
Those limits mean many working families qualify who may not think of themselves as low-income. Rogers said in a separate NHPR report that far more working families are applying and qualifying this year than last.
CAPHR notes its posted limits may rise if funding allows.
Why the Dec. 1 date matters
Applying now does not mean money arrives now. According to NHPR, Fuel Assistance benefits are released on Dec. 1, and households without heating oil or running low before then have to look elsewhere for help, such as their town or city welfare office.
That makes the weeks before December the time to get paperwork in. Ryan Clouthier, CEO of Community Action Partnership, which serves Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, urged people to apply as soon as they can because agencies need time to process applications before benefits go out.
CAPHR says deliveries of oil, kerosene, propane, wood or coal from Oct. 1 through April 30 are eligible, along with electric or natural gas bills from Nov. 1. The last day to apply is April 30, 2027.
Returning clients usually receive a mail-in application, according to CAPHR, while new applicants need to call their nearest office for an appointment. Southwestern Community Services takes calls at 352-7512 in Cheshire County and 542-9528 in Sullivan County.
A surge of new applicants
Agencies are already seeing the strain. Rogers told NHPR her agency has seen about 200 more applications from new households than at the same point last year.
Clouthier said his agency is seeing new applicants too, and told NHPR the rise in first-time households signals a surge is coming.
The cost pressure is plain. NHPR reported heating oil in New Hampshire is nearly $6 a gallon, about $2.50 more than a year ago. The National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association projects the average cost of heating with oil this season will rise more than 31%, or $548, to about $2,300, according to NHPR’s Oct. 7 report.
At that projection, the new $2,500 maximum would cover a full season of oil heat for the households that receive it, while the average award would cover a bit more than half.
Neighboring states have raised their own help. The site has covered the new Massachusetts heating oil benefit of up to $680 and Connecticut’s added $12.7 million in heating aid.
Emergency help before the tank runs dry
New Hampshire also runs smaller state programs alongside federal Fuel Assistance. Southwestern Community Services lists a one-time $450 State Emergency Fuel Assistance benefit paid to the heating vendor, and a one-time $200 State Supplemental Electric Benefit paid to the electric company.
The agency’s emergency criteria are specific: less than a quarter tank of heating oil, less than 20% of propane, less than a week’s supply of wood or pellets, or a utility disconnect notice for homes heated by electricity.
Kristin Bertrand, director of energy and area resource centers at Community Action Partnership of Belknap-Merrimack Counties, summed up the stakes for NHPR: “Energy costs affect everything.”
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Quintin Soloviev – CC BY 4.0/Wikimedia Commons
