WORCESTER, Mass. - The application period is now open for the WCAC Home Energy Assistance Program.

The leaves changing are a sure sign of colder temperatures to come and while October still has a few warm days in store for us, the Worcester Community Action Council said it’s time to start thinking about turning up the heat.

“As soon as the thermostat hits 55 in someone's house, it's cold," WCAC CEO Marybeth Campbell said. "Heating season is here now and it's upon us and we're ready to help people.”

The WCAC’s Home Energy Assistance Program helps thousands of homeowners and renters pay home heating bills and past due balances on utility bills annually.

“Over the past few years, we've helped 17,000-plus households annually," Campbell said. "And based on what we see of applications coming in already, we expect we're going to be in about the same figures this year.”

Online applications launched on Oct. 1 and the full application season launches on Nov. 1 where people can submit by mail or in-person at the WCAC office.

Marybeth Campbell said one slight change this year is there are no more ARPA funds to supplement the program, so benefits may look a little different.

“We don't know exactly what the benefit levels are going to be," Campbell said. "It depends on household income level how many people are in the household. But people can expect that they will be less than the last few years because we don't have that extra ARPA supplement.”

Campbell said a lot of people don’t realize they’re eligible for the program by income, and as heating costs go up, she advised it can’t hurt to check out the fuel assistance program to see if you’re eligible.