The goal of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is to prevent interruption of electric and gas service for low-income households, particularly those living with children under 5 years of age, seniors, and disabled individuals.
Who is Eligible:
Eligible applicants must have a total household income less than 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, and provide a copy of their energy bill. Eligible households may receive one regular home energy benefit in a 12-month period. In addition, eligible households may also receive one crisis benefit during the heating season and one crisis benefit during the cooling season. The bill has to be past the due date to be eligible for a crisis benefit.
Services Available:
Eligible applicants may receive assistance for electric or gas utility bills or electric deposits.
Funding:
This program is supported with funding from the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grant, which is distributed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and administered by the State of Florida's Department of Commerce (DOC).
All applications for services must be filled out completely and include the required documents in order to be processed. NOTE: If you create a login and do not complete the application, your login will be deleted.
Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Please read this important information before submitting an application for assistance:
Documents needed for assistance include:
(BE ADVISED: All required documents must be included to process the application, or you will be denied assistance.)
MFCS staff will never ask clients for personal information to “update MFCS payroll records” as part of the application process. If you receive an email with this request please contact us immediately to report the request.
Conditions of application;
Only apply for the county in which you live. If you apply under another county, your application will not be accepted.
We are no longer accepting applications by mail or drop off.
Once applications have reached capacity, we will not accept any more, either on-line or by appointment, until we have processed the applications we have on hand.
Applications will be processed in the order they are received.
Applications can take up to two weeks to process once all documents are received and the application is filled out completely. A staff member will provide updates as we review for processing.
Once your benefit is complete, a voucher will be sent to the utility provider and it will be applied to your account. Payment will be processed within 45 days according to our agreement with the utility provider.
White-out and scribbles will not be accepted on applications.
If the electric bill is in the name of someone not in the household, we need a letter from the account holder stating WHY the electric bill is in their name. They must sign it, provide their address, phone number, and their date of birth.
Click here for applications:
Brooksville - docsbrooksville@mfcs.us.com - for more information call (352) 796-1425
Sumter - docssumter@mfcs.us.com - for more information call (352) 796-1425
Dade City, Trilby, Lacoochee, Zephyrhills, Wesley Chapel, Crystal Springs, Lutz, Ridge Manor
East Pasco - docsepasco@mfcs.us.com - for more information call (352) 567-0533
Port Richey, New Port Richey, Hudson, Holiday, Land O'Lakes, Lutz, and Odessa
West Pasco - docswpasco@mfcs.us.com for more information call (727) 857-5495
Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Service Locations: Hernando, Pasco, and Sumter Counties.
