Vermont Approved $15.3 Million to Expand Winter Fuel Aid, Doubling Crisis Help So 2,400 More Households Can Avoid Running Out of Heat

Gov. Phil Scott and four Democratic lawmakers who chair Vermont’s money committees voted unanimously on Friday, Oct. 23, to put $15.3 million in state money into winter fuel aid. The package, approved by the state’s Emergency Board, raises seasonal benefits for homes that burn oil and kerosene and doubles the capacity of the crisis fuel program, letting an extra 2,400 households get emergency payments before their tanks run dry.

The Valley News reported that the money comes from a reserve lawmakers set aside last year to cushion state agencies against federal funding cuts. It is only the second time the board has tapped that fund. The first was a state-paid stopgap for food assistance during last year’s federal shutdown.

Five Votes and a Rainy-Day Reserve

The Emergency Board is a small panel made up of the governor and four lawmakers who chair the committees overseeing state finances. All five backed the package.

Timing drove the decision. Vermont generally sends out its seasonal fuel benefits as a lump sum in November, which left little time to get an increase in place before those payments went out, according to Senate Appropriations Chair Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Washington.

Perchlik called this winter’s cost pressures “unique” and said his goal was to keep low-income Vermonters’ fuel costs roughly in line with last year. As for federal money arriving to replace the state’s, he said he was not going to hold his breath.

If more federal funding does come through, unused state money could flow back into the reserve, according to Miranda Gray, who leads the Department for Children and Families’ Economic Services Division.

Scott said the measure would bring some comfort to the Vermonters the state most needs to protect.

Oil and Kerosene Homes Get the Biggest Lift

State officials estimate residential heating oil prices have risen about 76% since last fall and kerosene about 61%, according to the Valley News. The Vermont Department of Public Service’s retail price survey put the September 2026 average at $5.87 a gallon for fuel oil and $6.19 for kerosene, compared with $3.09 for propane.

That gap is why the new money targets oil and kerosene. About 15,000 financially qualifying households received seasonal fuel help last year, and more than half of them heat with those two fuels, the Valley News reported: about 38% with heating oil and 14% with kerosene. The rest use propane, wood or natural gas.

Historically, Vermont’s seasonal benefit has covered about 45% of a recipient’s expected fuel needs, paid mostly from federal LIHEAP dollars. Vermont expects nearly $23 million in LIHEAP money this year. With the state’s added funds, Gray said, the program can likely cover about 62% of fuel needs for oil and kerosene users this winter.

The Department for Children and Families’ program summary describes seasonal fuel aid as a single benefit paid from November through April, sent to the fuel supplier for oil, kerosene, propane, coal, natural gas or electric heat. Firewood and wood pellet payments start in September.

Twice as Many Emergency Tank Fills

The other piece of the package goes to Crisis Fuel Assistance, the program households turn to when they are nearly out of fuel and have no money to buy more. Doubling its capacity opens room for about 2,400 more households to get a payment this winter.

Crisis aid has a slightly higher income ceiling than the seasonal benefit. The DCF crisis fuel page sets the limit at 200% of the federal poverty level, compared with 185% for seasonal fuel assistance. Applicants must be in an actual heating crisis, such as being out of fuel with no money to buy more.

The crisis money can pay for the household’s primary heat source, the electricity needed to run a heating system, or negotiated payment plans, and it can be used to work with an electric or gas company to prevent a disconnection.

Pennsylvania runs a similar program for broken furnaces and low fuel supplies, and Connecticut recently added $12.7 million to its heating aid program.

Who Can Get Crisis Fuel, and When

The crisis season opens later than the seasonal one. For bulk fuels such as oil, kerosene, propane, wood, pellets and coal, DCF says it runs from the last Monday in November, which this year is Nov. 30, through the second Friday in April. For natural gas and electric heat, it runs through the last regular working day in April.

Applications are taken in person at the local Community Action Agency, and DCF advises calling first to find out which documents to bring. Elderly or disabled Vermonters who cannot get to an office may be allowed to apply by phone.

DCF’s warning on timing is blunt: households should not wait until the tank is empty to apply. Help is not available if fuel has already been delivered or furnace work is already done.

After-hours lines cover nights and weekends. Households out of fuel on weekends and holidays can call 1-866-331-7741 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. if someone in the home is 60 or older, under 6, or receiving federal disability benefits. A separate line, 1-877-295-7998, handles furnaces that are not working properly, with no age or disability requirement.

Lawmakers Doubt Washington Will Fill the Gap

Vermont took similar steps in 2023, but a DCF spokesperson could not immediately find records of a state contribution this large, according to the Valley News.

House Ways and Means Chair Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, said many Vermonters have no extra room left in their budgets, with food and other costs also weighing on constituents. She described protecting access to necessities as “the basic minimum that a government can do.”

Travis Poulin, community action network director at the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, called extra money to keep families from running out of fuel “money well spent.” His forecast: “It’s going to be a difficult winter.”

Households new to the seasonal program can apply online through the state’s myBenefits portal, in person at a district office, or by calling 1-800-479-6151 to request a paper application. Returning recipients are mailed an annual review form.

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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/Wikimedia Commons