Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Georgia program

Help with the power or gas bill (LIHEAP)

A local community action agency can help pay energy bills and check urgent shutoff needs.

What it is

A local community action agency can help pay energy bills and check urgent shutoff needs.

Energy help is for households under about 60 percent of Georgia's median income, worked out by household size; the county agency has the current table. It pays the utility directly, and a shutoff notice opens a faster crisis review.

Eligibility rules
  • The income limit is 60% of state median income. The agency checks its current household-size table.
  • FY2026 ordinary intake closed July 31, 2026.
  • The local community action agency confirms the next season’s final dates, household-size income table and funding. The FY2027 plan is a draft until final rules and local intake are confirmed.
What you get
  • An approved payment toward the utility bill.
  • A crisis review within 48 hours when a shutoff is threatened, or 18 hours when the danger is immediate.
What the help includes
  • The approved amount follows the season’s final benefit rules and available funds. The agency checks crisis eligibility and available intervention. The 18-hour and 48-hour standards do not promise that money reaches the utility in that period.
  • A medical-risk letter can support the crisis review. It can also support a separate utility illness hold where that rule applies.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the county community action agency listed on Georgia DFCS’s LIHEAP page about the correct intake route.
  2. Have ready: the utility bill, shutoff notice and income information.
  3. Ask the care team for a letter explaining the medical risk if power is disconnected.

Your county community action agency, through the Georgia DFCS LIHEAP directory · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • The agency decides financial eligibility, crisis status and available assistance. An approved payment goes to the utility.
Good to know

Seasonal intake and crisis help are different routes. The county agency confirms which is open and funded.

Other details
  • Heating help usually opens in December and cooling help in April. The first month is reserved for older adults and people who are homebound, so a family with a sick child normally applies after that.

Federal background: LIHEAP.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could energy assistance help with our bill, and would any shutoff risk qualify for crisis review? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and would you help us request the right kind of help if appropriate?”

Why I’m asking: I want to keep utilities available during treatment and understand the financial help.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Bring the bill and notice to the agency.

Your social worker

The social worker documents the medical risk of a disconnection.

The care team

Writes the medical-risk letter.

Who decides
The county community action agency under the state plan
Ask your social worker
“Can the team write a letter that losing power would endanger our child, for the energy-assistance crisis request?”

How to apply

First step: Find your county agency on the Division of Family and Children Services energy-assistance page. Ask whether crisis intake is open. Bring the utility bill and any disconnect notice.

  1. Find the county agency and ask whether crisis intake is open.
  2. Bring the bill and any disconnect notice.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: County agency listed on the DFCS LIHEAP page

What to gather

  • Utility bill and account number
  • Disconnect notice
  • Income proof
  • Clinician letter on medical risk

How long: Eligible crisis intervention is normally within 48 hours, or 18 hours for a life-threatening situation, when the component is open. This is not a payment or reconnection guarantee. Regular intake is seasonal.

What a yes looks like

A payment posted to the utility account.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether intake is closed or funds are gone, and when it reopens.

Watch out

  • FY2026 intake closed July 31, 2026. The FY2027 dates are a draft: heating from December 1, 2026, cooling from April 1, 2027, with the first 30 days for people 65 and older and the medically homebound. Ask your county agency, not DFCS, when general intake opens.
  • 60% of state median income is the income limit. The FY2027 dollar table was not published in what we read, so ask the agency.
  • Medical need matters: a letter that losing electricity endangers the child moves a crisis request up. The same letter can hold a Georgia Power or Atlanta-area gas shutoff for up to a month (see the shutoff item).

Dates that change this

2026-07-31: FY2026 regular intake closed July 31, 2026.

2026-12-01: Draft FFY2027 state plan: heating help opens December 1, 2026 and cooling help April 1, 2027; people 65 and older and the medically homebound are served in the first 30 days of each. Draft, not final; general-public opening dates not published. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 8, 2026.

What it is worth

An approved payment to the utility depends on the open season, eligibility and funds. Crisis intervention standards are 48 hours, or 18 hours for life-threatening cases, rather than guaranteed payment deadlines.

Covers: Bill payment to the utility · Crisis assistance

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Income
60% of state median income
Windows
FY2026 regular intake closed July 31, 2026. The FY2027 draft proposes heating from December 1, 2026 and cooling from April 1, 2027, with a first-30-day priority period for specified older-adult and medically homebound households. Final dates, dollar limits and crisis availability must be confirmed with the local agency; crisis assistance is not an established year-round entitlement.

Decisions this site cannot make: Local agency eligibility

Expect friction on: Seasonal application dates · Funds run out

The trap: FY2026 intake closed July 31, 2026. The FY2027 dates are still a draft: heating from December 1, 2026, cooling from April 1, 2027, each with the first 30 days reserved for people 65 and older and the medically homebound. Ask your county agency, not DFCS, when general intake opens.

Where I read this

← Back to your options