On October 9, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released $3.63 billion in fiscal year 2027 funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). That includes about $3.59 billion for states, D.C. and the territories, and about $44 million for tribes. The release is 90 percent of the funding available under the continuing resolution (CR) Congress passed last month, which keeps the government funded at current levels through December 11. Because a CR carries last year’s funding level forward, HHS did not have to wait for a full-year spending bill to send money out.

This is the earliest release in recent years. HHS sent out its first round of CR funding in November in each of the last two years, most recently on November 28, 2025, so this year’s release came about seven weeks sooner. It followed a bipartisan push from more than 100 members of Congress, national advocacy groups and coalition partners, including NEFI, urging the administration to release the funds quickly.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) announced Maine's release the same day. Maine will receive $36,675,395, and Maine tribes will receive another $1,408,729, for a total of more than $38 million.

Official state-by-state allocations have not yet been published, and we will share them once they are.