Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP)

As part of the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Colorado LEAP helps pay heating bills for low-income Colorado residents during the winter "heating season" from November 1 to April 30. (For help with energy bills from May 1 to October 31, contact Energy Outreach Colorado.)

Note: In addition to help paying your winter heating bills, signing up for the LEAP program qualifies you for other energy assistance, like emergency repair or replacement of a broken heating system, upgrades to make your home more energy efficient, and other programs.

Who Can Get LEAP?

To qualify for LEAP benefits, you must:

• Pay home heating costs either directly to a utility company, or to a landlord as part of your rent.
• Be a Colorado resident and a citizen or permanent legal resident of the United States, or have a member of your household who is a U.S. citizen.
• Have a total household income that's 60% of the state median income or less. (The Colorado Department of Human Services provides a chart of the current income limits under "Learn more about LEAP program eligibility.")
• Provide copies of your valid identification (ID), like a driver's license or Colorado ID card.

How LEAP Works

If you are approved for the program, LEAP looks at your current income and your heating costs for last year, and then makes one lump-sum payment directly to your heating provider. The money helps pay some of the costs of heating your home throughout the heating season (applications are accepted November 1 to April 30). You can only get one LEAP payment in each heating season.

How to Apply

You can apply for Colorado LEAP:

• Online through Colorado PEAK, or
• By calling 1-866-HEAT-HELP (1-866-432-8435).

When you apply for LEAP:

• Answer all the questions in each section of the application.
• Sign the application.
• Send it to the correct county LEAP office.
• Attach a copy of your most recent heating bill.
  • Note: If you pay your heat as part of your rent, include a copy of your most recent rent receipt.
• Include a readable copy of your valid photo ID.
• List the birth dates and Social Security numbers (if they have them) for all members of your household.
• Attach proof of all monthly household income, like copies of pay stubs, award letters, or loan documents.
• If self-employed, include copies of receipts for all expenses claimed on your profit and loss statement.

It typically takes 10-25 days to process a LEAP application. If your heat is about to be shut off, your main heating system has stopped working, or you are running out of propane, be sure to tell this to LEAP so they can rush your application and process it within 10 days.

If you live in Colorado, have low income, and struggle to keep your place warm, you may be able to get help with:

• Emergency repairs or replacement of your heating system, and
• Improvements to cut your energy bills by making your home more energy efficient.

When Your Heating Stops Working: CIP

The Crisis Intervention Program (CIP) offers emergency service to people enrolled in Colorado LEAP if their heating system stops working. If you qualify for LEAP but are not yet enrolled, you must apply for LEAP before you can get CIP emergency services. CIP helps with:

• Repairing your broken heating system (this does not include routine maintenance)
• Replacing your broken heating system, if needed, and
• Snow removal in rural areas to make it possible to deliver fuel.

Who Does CIP Help?

To get emergency help through CIP:

• You must be qualified for and enrolled in Colorado LEAP, and
• Your main heating source must not be working.

Note: If you qualify for LEAP but are not yet enrolled, when you call CIP for emergency help they will explain how to file an immediate LEAP application. CIP will also tell your county that there is an emergency LEAP application coming through, and it needs to be processed quickly. As soon as your LEAP application is approved, your county will tell you to call CIP to get emergency service.

How to Apply for CIP

To apply for CIP emergency services to fix your broken heating system, call 1-855-4-MY-HEAT (1-855-469-4328). The CIP phone line operates 24 hours a day, every day, so you can phone at any time. If you are not yet enrolled in Colorado LEAP but you qualify, you first need to apply for LEAP, and then ask for help from CIP.

Making Your Home More Energy Efficient

Both the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) and Colorado's Affordable Residential Energy Program (CARE) offer free or low-cost home improvements to permanently lower your heating costs.

Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)

WAP helps low-income Colorado residents pay for repairs to make their homes more energy efficient, in order to lower their heating costs. Run as a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the Colorado Energy Office, and local agencies, WAP offers:

• Air sealing
• Energy conservation information
• Furnace safety testing
• Furnace repair or replacement
• Insulation in attic, floors, and walls
• LED light bulb retrofits
• Storm doors

These services are available for the owners of single-family houses, multi-family buildings, and manufactured residences (mobile homes). If the landlord agrees, WAP services are also available for renters in any of these types of homes.

You automatically qualify for WAP if you get any of these public benefits:

• Colorado Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP)
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
• Colorado Works
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Colorado Aid to Needy and Disabled (AND)
• Colorado Old Age Pension (OAP)

If you do not get any of those benefits, you can also qualify for WAP if your income is below the WAP income limits. The Colorado Energy Office answers frequently asked questions about WAP, which includes a chart of the current income limits.

How to Apply for WAP

To apply for WAP services, contact your local agency. They can give you an application and help you with it.

Once your application is approved, WAP does a free home energy audit to decide which are the best and most cost-effective improvements to make to your home. WAP sets a budget for the work, and asks you to pay a portion of the costs. If you cannot do that, you can still get the work done if you can show that you can't afford to pay.

You then sign a contract with WAP, and WAP schedules a crew of technicians to do the work. After the improvements have been made, an inspector visits your home to make sure the work has been done correctly.

Colorado's Affordable Residential Energy Program (CARE)

Colorado's Affordable Residential Energy (CARE) program provides a wide range of free home improvement help in much of the state. CARE services can include:

• Energy audits
• Replacing equipment like lighting, insulation, a furnace, or air conditioning
• Health and safety upgrades to your home
• Project management
• Help finding rebates and other funding sources

To get CARE services you must:

• Live in a participating county
  • Larimer and Boulder counties are only partially covered
  • If your county does not participate in CARE, WAP offers similar services
• Meet the income limits for your county
• Get your service from a participating utility company

To apply for CARE, you must apply and send in documents showing the income for each working adult in your household.

Joe and Marie's Story

Joe has a disability and gets monthly benefits from Supplemental Security Income (SSI). His wife Marie works in a local store, in walking distance from their home. They live in a small house Marie inherited from her aunt, and get by from month to month, with very little left over.

In September, the store where Marie works is sold and the new owner cuts Marie's hours by more than half. She looks for another job, but can't find anything near their home. In November, they sit down together and go over their expenses.

Joe and Marie's total combined income is now about $1,800 a month, and they have already spent what little savings they had. They know that last winter their heating bills went as high as $500 a month. Joe and Marie realize there is no way they are going to be able to pay their usual winter heating bills.

Their next-door neighbor tells Joe and Marie about the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP). Joe calls 1-866-HEAT-HELP (1-886-432-8435) and talks with Ann. After asking a few questions, Ann explains, "You can fill out a paper application, or you can apply online at Colorado PEAK. Either way, you'll need copies of your current heating bill, a valid ID, and proof of your total combined income."

Joe and Marie gather the documents they need and apply online. After a short wait, they get an approval letter telling them that a lump-sum payment of $500 will be sent to their utility company, to cover some of their costs for that heating season. The letter includes information about the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which can pay for upgrades to make their house more energy efficient.

They contact WAP, and they qualify because they are already enrolled in LEAP. A representative from WAP does an energy audit of their home, and determines it is cost effective to air seal their home, install new storm doors, and add insulation in the attic, floors, and walls. Based on their income and resources, Joe and Marie will not have to pay anything for these improvements.

They sign a contract with WAP, and WAP schedules a crew to come do the work. When the workers are finished, an inspector comes by and agrees that everything was done correctly. Joe and Marie now have a much warmer, more air-tight home, and their monthly heating bills go down.

However, about five weeks later their natural gas furnace suddenly stops working. Frantic and with no money to pay for any repairs, Joe calls the HEAT-HELP line again and is given the MY-HEAT phone number for the Crisis Intervention Program (CIP) at 1-855-4-MY-HEAT (1-855-469-4328). A CIP technician comes the next day to check their furnace. Fortunately there is nothing seriously wrong and their furnace only needs a few replacement parts. It is soon working again, at no cost to Joe and Marie.