What Do You Need To Know?
The Kentucky Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) is a federally funded program which assists people from underprivileged backgrounds with utility payments. The main objective of the program is to help people from low-income backgrounds who are not able to pay their utility expenses. It should be noted that the Kentucky LEAP only helps households who pass the eligibility requirements.
LIHEAP Services
There Kentucky Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides various services to people from low-income household including
- Utility bill payments
- Energy crisis grants
- Energy-related home repair assistance
- Weatherproofing of the house
- Assistance at times of emergency energy need
Component of the Kentucky LIHEAP
There are three components of the Kentucky LIHEAP program
- The Subsidy Component
This program operates in the cold seasons during November and December. This program helps to pay the heating cost of residents of Kentucky who are below 130% of the FDL. The eligible candidates get the benefits by direct payments and sometimes as a portion of their house rent.
- The Crisis Component
The operating time for the crisis component of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program starts in January and ends in the middle of March. In case the funds are increased the timing may be extended.
- Summer Cooling Program
This program is optional and is only offered when enough funds are available by the government. The program pays the cooling expense for the households who are eligible to apply for the program.
Are You Eligible?
Some general requirements need to be fulfilled to apply for the Kentucky LIHEAP program,
- Recent copies of your utility bills including the account numbers and names for all heating fuel sources and electric.
- The applicant needs to show proof of their US citizenship
- The applicant should be the resident of the state of Kentucky
- The applicant needs to show proof of their current address
- The applicant needs to show their Social Security Number and that of all the members in the family
- The applicant needs to show copies of their recent household gross income
- In case you have received a termination letter from your energy suppliers, you need to show proof of that.
- The applicant must show the total number of members living in the house
Requirements for Subsidy component of LIHEAP
- The applicant must have an income level specified by the government which is 130 percent below or equal to the federal poverty level (FPD)
- The current total resource limit of the household should not exceed $2000
- In case of some emergency ( illness etc), they limit for liquid assets may exceed $4000. It should be kept in mind that the money should be used towards paying the medical expenses of the patient.
Requirements for the Crisis component of LIHEAP
- The applicant must be in some crisis and unable to pay the heating bills.
- There are only a few days fuel left in the house
- The applicant’s electricity has been cut off or the applicant has received a termination notice regarding rents.
Requirements for the Summer Cooling program
- The applicant has member/members in the family older than 65 years or older
- The applicant has dependent children in the household
- The member of the household has a medical condition that requires cooling of the house as prescribed by the doctor
The other important factors on which a candidate’s eligibility is assessed include,
- The candidate’s annual gross income
- The candidate’s household size
The table below provides a detailed understanding of the household size and the maximum gross income which should be either equal or less than,
| Total Household Size | Gross Income Level (Per Year) |
| 1 | 16237 |
| 2 | 21983 |
| 3 | 27729 |
| 4 | 33475 |
| 5 | 39221 |
| 6 | 44967 |
| 7 | 50713 |
| 8 | 56459 |
If there a are more than 8 members in the house than an extra amount of $5746 is added for each additional member. Therefore, check with local agencies for accurate information about the Kentucky Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
How To Apply?
At the time of applying for the Kentucky Low-Income Home Energy Program, the applicant must have a copy of their
- The utility expenses ( electricity, gas, heating, and cooling, propane)
- All the documents that show salaries of all the members of the household who are currently employed
- Copied of identification and Social Security Numbers of all the members.
The applicant can use different methods to apply for the Kentucky LIHEAP. It makes the whole process very flexible and applicants can choose the method more easy for them.
- To apply via phone call please use the toll-free number 1-866-674-6327 to contact the LIHEAP office and request an application form for the program. The application will be emailed to you which you can then return once you fill out the form to get the program’s benefits.
- To apply through fax, the applicant will be required to fax the application form along with all the attested copied of the required documents to the Division of Energy Assistance
- If the applicant is interested in submitting their application in person, they can visit the nearby LEAP office in their locality.
It is advisable to apply before the due date to be able to get the benefits. Also, note that any assistance in the form of cash that you might get from the program goes directly to your respected energy provider or utility company.