Gov. Janet Mills announced today that all of the $450 checks earmarked for winter energy relief have been sent out to Mainers.

In a statement, Mills said the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services has mailed payments to 876,187 eligible Mainers, ahead of the deadline of finishing by the end of March.

"I hope this $450 payment will provide Maine people with a small measure of relief from the burden of increased energy costs this winter," Mills said. "I look forward to continuing to work with the Legislature to pursue policies that will bring down energy costs in the long run, including weatherization, more efficient heating and cooling technologies, and diversifying our energy sources with clean, renewable energy to lower the price of electricity." 

The payments were part of a plan that also offers additional energy assistance to low-income Mainers, along with emergency fuel assistance and short-term emergency housing for the state’s homeless.

Maine residents qualified for payments by filing their 2021 state tax return by Oct. 31, 2022, being a full-year resident for fiscal 2021 and not being claimed as a dependent. 

Residents also had to have a reported adjusted income for 2021 of “less than $200,000 for individuals filing a married joint return or surviving spouses permitted to file a joint return; $150,000 for an individual filing as a head of household; or $100,000 for a single individual or a married individual filing a separate return.”

Anyone who qualifies for a payment and has not received one yet may check the status of their payments by visiting the department’s website by clicking here.