Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Texas program

Help with utility bills and keeping the power on

CEAP can help pay energy bills. A separate medical form can bring extra protection when losing power would harm your child.

What it is

CEAP can help pay energy bills. A separate medical form can bring extra protection when losing power would harm your child.

Treatment at home can make reliable electricity especially important. A local CEAP agency can review payment help, while the utility reviews medical protections separately. The utility’s rules decide the notice, payment arrangement and any temporary shutoff hold.

Who this can help
  • CEAP normally uses an income limit of 150% of poverty. The current plan also allows the income test to be met through designated benefits such as SSI, SNAP, TANF or means-tested veterans benefits. This does not automatically enroll the household or guarantee funds; the local agency checks the full application. The adopted plan covers October 1, 2025–September 30, 2027; available funding can still run out.
  • Medical equipment or temperature-control needs require the clinician’s supporting form. The utility decides which designation and procedure applies.
  • Most retail electricity companies follow the state's medical-protection rule; Austin Energy, CPS Energy and El Paso Electric have their own.
What you get
  • A utility payment set by the local agency, with no statewide fixed award.
  • Medical notice or payment protections when your child meets the utility’s requirements.
What the rules cover
  • For retail electricity covered by PUC rules, a medical registry and a temporary protection against nonpayment disconnection are separate. The social worker can help the clinician and electricity company check the correct medical form, the deadline and any payment arrangement. Registration does not guarantee uninterrupted power or erase an unpaid bill.
  • If Austin Energy serves your home, its Medically Vulnerable Registry offers bill management and payment plans. If CPS Energy serves your home, its Critical Care Program offers extra time to pay. Neither guarantees protection from a shutoff for unpaid bills. The company can confirm current requirements.
  • If El Paso Electric serves your home, the utility can confirm the applicable medical-disconnection procedure. Your social worker can help obtain the clinician-statement deadline, any required payment agreement and the exact protected dates in writing. The bill remains owed.
  • Every electricity company has its own medical-protection form and deadline. Call the company named on your bill before the shutoff date and ask what it needs.
If you decide to apply
  1. Use Help for Texans or 2-1-1 to find your local CEAP agency.
  2. Have the utility bill, shutoff notice and household income ready for the agency.
  3. Ask the oncology team to complete the medical form required by the utility named on your bill.

CEAP: 2-1-1; Public Utility Commission: 888-782-8477 · Official page ↗

What happens next
  • A CEAP approval identifies the utility payment. A medical approval should identify the protection and expiration date in writing.
  • A CEAP decision does not itself stop a utility shutoff. The social worker can help confirm separately that the utility received the medical paperwork and accepted any required payment arrangement, with the protected dates in writing.
  • A denied payment may reflect income, missing documents, crisis rules or exhausted funds. The local agency can explain which applies.
Good to know

A medical designation does not cancel the bill. A CEAP application alone is not the agency’s payment pledge to the utility.

Other details
  • LP&L retail customers moved to retail electric providers between March 4 and April 1, 2024. The current company on the bill identifies the medical-protection route.
  • Critical-care registration alone is not a guarantee against disconnection for an unpaid bill. The electricity company can confirm whether a separate medical hold applies to this account, when the paperwork and payment arrangement are due, how long the hold lasts and what is needed to renew it. A plan for power needed by medical equipment remains important even while a billing dispute or assistance request is being reviewed.

Federal background: LIHEAP funds state and local energy-bill assistance.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Can you help us find utility-bill assistance and check which medical protection applies to our electric company, especially if equipment at home needs power?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand both payment help and what could keep electricity available for care.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Take the bill and any shutoff notice to the local provider. Ask the oncologist to complete the utility's critical-care form if equipment is at home.

Your social worker

Finds the county provider and communicates an urgent medically unsafe home situation.

The care team

Completes the Public Utility Commission critical-care or chronic-condition form when the child depends on electric equipment or temperature control.

Who decides
The local CEAP agency decides the award. The electric utility processes the designation
Ask your social worker
“Can you help us reach the utility assistance agency before the shutoff date? Can the oncologist complete the medical equipment form?”

How to apply

First step: Find your local CEAP provider at tdhca.texas.gov/help-for-texans or call 2-1-1. Ask the oncologist to complete the medical equipment form for your electric utility: the PUC form for a retail electric provider, Austin Energy's registry form in Austin, CPS Energy's Critical Care form in San Antonio. If your bill names El Paso Electric, contact its medical-protection team now and arrange clinician contact, a written statement and a payment agreement.

  1. Find the local CEAP provider at tdhca.texas.gov/help-for-texans or 2-1-1. For equipment at home, ask the oncologist to complete the PUC critical-care form for the electric utility named on the bill. In Austin use Austin Energy's Medically Vulnerable Registry form; in San Antonio use CPS Energy's Critical Care application.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: tdhca.texas.gov/help-for-texans or 2-1-1; PUC 888-782-8477; Austin Energy Medically Vulnerable Registry; CPS Energy Critical Care Program

What to gather

  • Current utility bill and any disconnection notice
  • Household income
  • The physician form for equipment at home

How long: Local. The utility must forward a critical-care form within two business days.

What a yes looks like

A notice of the approved payment to the utility, or a designation letter with an expiry date.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether documents, income, the crisis definition or exhausted funds caused it. Call the Public Utility Commission at 888-782-8477 for a threatened disconnection; Austin Energy and CPS Energy customers ask the city utility for a payment plan.

Watch out

  • The designation does not cancel the bill. It buys time and notice.
  • Funds run out. Apply early in the season.
  • A CEAP application is not a payment pledge. The utility needs the agency's pledge to hold service.
  • In Austin and San Antonio the city utility runs its own program: Austin Energy's Medically Vulnerable Registry and CPS Energy's Critical Care Program give payment plans and extra time, not a shutoff bar. Retail providers use their PUC procedure; El Paso Electric has a separate tariff described below.
  • If El Paso Electric is the utility on your bill, its medical protection requires clinician contact within 16 days of bill issuance, a written medical statement and a deferred-payment agreement. The tariff provides at least 63 days from bill issuance, or a shorter agreed period. Ask for written confirmation; the bill is still owed.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.

What it is worth

CEAP can help with utility bills after a local eligibility and funding review. Its usual income screen is 150% of poverty; designated SSI, SNAP, TANF or means-tested veterans benefits can provide another income route. Medical registration and a temporary shutoff hold are separate utility processes, with account-specific requirements.

  • Energy payment — Energy payment

Covers: Utility bill payment · Crisis assistance

Legal protection: Medical registration may provide notice or account arrangements under the applicable utility rules. · Any temporary nonpayment-disconnection hold has separate conditions; registration alone does not guarantee uninterrupted power.

What it costs the family: None.

The eligibility facts, as published

Income percent fpl max
150
Local determination
yes
City utilities
austin energy: Medically Vulnerable Registry (application at medicallyvulnerableregistry.com): individualized bill management and payment plans; still subject to disconnect for non-payment; cps energy: Critical Care Program (application form revised 12/2022): additional time to pay; acceptance does not prevent disconnection for non-payment; extra days not published; lubbock: LP&L retail customers moved to retail electric providers 2024-03-04 to 2024-04-01; LP&L links the PUC Residential Application for Chronic or Critical Care; el paso electric: If El Paso Electric serves your home, ask it to confirm the medical paperwork, payment arrangement and any protected dates in writing. The bill remains due; this guide does not establish an account-specific shutoff delay.; xcel sps amarillo: Texas medical exemption page returned no text; ask the utility; puc rule scope: 16 TAC subchapter R (25.471(a)) applies to aggregators and retail electric providers

The trap: The designation does not cancel the bill. It buys time and notice.

Where I read this

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