Ohio’s Winter Crisis Program starts taking applications Nov. 2, 2026 and keeps going through March 31, 2027. What it pays depends on who sends the utility bill: up to $175 for customers of regulated electric and natural gas companies, and up to $750 for customers of municipal utilities and cooperatives. The terms for the 2026-27 heating season come from the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel’s program fact sheet.
Why the cap is $175 at one utility and $750 at another
The split follows the utility, not the household. Customers of electric and natural gas companies regulated by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio can receive up to $175. Customers of a municipal utility or an electric cooperative can receive up to $750, more than four times as much.
Both figures are ceilings, and the program helps once per winter heating season. A household paid in December is not paid again in February. The fact sheet gives no reason for the higher limit at municipal and cooperative utilities, so the difference is simply part of the rules…