Households of Cherokee County Can Apply for Low-Income Energy Assistance Starting Dec. 3

The federally funded Low-Income Energy Assistance Program provides eligible households with a one-time payment to their heating vendor to offset the high cost of heating during the cold-weather months. Depending on the household’s primary heating source, the payment will be $200, $300 or $400.

Last year, the program provided approximately $32 million to help 128,160 households pay their heating bills from December 2017 through March 2018.

To be eligible, a person must:

• Have at least one U.S. citizen or non-citizen who meets eligibility criteria 
• Have income equal to or less than 130 percent of the federal poverty limit, such as: 
  • For a household of one, an income of $15,782 or less 
  • For a family of four, an income of $32,630 or less 
• Have resources, such as saving and checking accounts, cash on hand, at or below $2,250  
• Be responsible for their heating cost 

Cherokee County households who want to apply for energy assistance can only do so in person at the Cherokee County Department of Social Services office:

4800 W US Highway 64 Murphy, NC 28906

The office will be accepting applications from households with a person aged 60 or more, or someone receiving benefits from the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services from Monday, Dec. 3, through Monday, Dec. 31, with the exception of Dec 24-26th, when the Cherokee County Department of Social Services will be closed. Office hours are Monday-Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
All households may apply from Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019 through Friday, March 29, 2019.

Households that include an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) living in the five-county service area of Cherokee, Graham, Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties, wishing to apply for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program must do so through the EBCI at https://ebci.com/. This includes enrolled EBCI members on and off the Qualla Boundary in the five counties.