As temperatures begin to dip, you should know about an important resource for keeping warm this winter. Ohio offers the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) for people in need of assistance paying their energy bills.

Learn more about HEAP in this blog post.

What is HEAP? Do I qualify for it?

Ohio.gov explains, “The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) is a federally funded program that provides eligible Ohioans assistance with their home energy bills. This one-time benefit is applied directly to the customer’s utility bill or bulk fuel bill.”

Eligibility for HEAP is determined by household size and income.

For the current year, HEAP benefits will apply to your bill beginning January 2023.

Visit https://development.ohio.gov/individual/energy-assistance/1-home-energy-assistance-program for complete information from Ohio.gov, including the eligibility chart.

How do I apply?

Ohio.gov explains that there are three ways to apply: online, by appointment, or by mail.

The application for July 2022-May 2023 can be found at https://development.ohio.gov/individual/energy-assistance/apply-now-energy-assistance-programs, as well as the list of other required documents you need to submit with your application.

How can the library help me with HEAP?

The library is happy to provide you complimentary printed HEAP applications that you may take with you to fill out on your own. Visit the Adult Services desk on the second floor to ask for an application. The application includes the list of documents you’ll need to send with the application.

If you need to make copies to send with your application, you can use our first-floor or second-floor copiers, which cost $0.10/copy for black & white.

If you would like to fill out the application online, we offer 1-hour public computers on the second floor of the library that you may use.

The second-floor copier also has a scan-to-email feature, so you can scan any necessary documentation to your email for digital use at no cost, and both first-floor and second-floor copiers have scan-to-flash drive capabilities, which is also a free service.

Questions?

For more information about HEAP, visit https://development.ohio.gov/individual/energy-assistance/1-home-energy-assistance-program or call their number 800-282-0880.

For questions about library services, call 330-296-2827.