Vermont program
A discount on the electricity or gas bill
Income-based discounts can reduce monthly bills from three Vermont electricity and gas utilities.
What it is
Income-based discounts can reduce monthly bills from three Vermont electricity and gas utilities.
Your utility and household income determine which discount applies. All three programs use a boundary around 185% of the poverty guideline. The exact treatment of income at that line differs.
Eligibility rules
- You must be a customer in the participating utility's service area.
- Green Mountain Power and Burlington Electric use income at or below 185% of poverty. Vermont Gas uses income below that line.
What you get
- A monthly discount on eligible electricity or gas charges.
What the help includes
- Green Mountain Power discounts customer and energy charges. Burlington Electric discounts energy, demand and customer charges.
- The Burlington Electric rate is from its December 2025 tariff.
If you decide to apply
- Ask your social worker to help check your utility’s process. GMP and Vermont Gas use DCF; Burlington Electric can use DCF’s Seasonal Fuel list.
- Have a recent bill and household income information ready. You can discuss fuel assistance at the same visit.
Green Mountain Power, Vermont Gas, Burlington Electric or your local community action agency. · Official page ↗
After you ask
- DCF checks eligibility for GMP and Vermont Gas. Burlington Electric follows its tariff and can enroll households from DCF’s Seasonal Fuel list.
- Green Mountain Power's 25% discount starts on the next bill after DCF approves you and renews yearly. Vermont Gas gives 20% through the same DCF check. Burlington Electric gives 12.5% and can enroll you automatically from the fuel-assistance list.
Good to know
A life-support listing and medical-emergency disconnection protection are different. Your social worker can help the utility and clinician check any certification and deadline.
Other details
- A bill discount and a medical disconnection protection are different forms of help.
- Burlington Electric says its life-support equipment listing does not prevent interruption for unpaid bills. Separate medical-emergency protection needs its own utility and clinician review.
Official sources
“Does our utility offer a discount we could qualify for? Which charges would it reduce, and could you help us ask through the fuel-assistance office?”
Why I’m asking: I want to lower recurring bills while we handle treatment costs.
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
Apply with the fuel application and say which utility serves you.
Your social worker
The community action agency takes both applications together.
The care team
Records and letters when the application asks for them.
- Who decides
- The utility.
- Ask the agency
- “We want the low income discount on our electricity or gas. Can we apply with the fuel application, and what income counts?”
How to apply
First step: Apply through the local community action agency, with the fuel application in the same visit.
- Apply through the community action agency with the fuel application, so one visit covers both.
- If a child uses life support equipment at home, register with the utility and ask in writing what protection that does and does not give.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Apply through the utility or the local community action agency, which handles fuel and utility applications together.
What to gather
- This month's income
- A recent utility bill
How long: Not published.
What a yes looks like
A discounted rate showing on the next bill.
What a no looks like, and the next move
Ask which income figure was used and whether reporting a pay drop changes it.
Watch out
- Being on a life support equipment listing does not stop a disconnection for non-payment. Burlington Electric says so in its own words.
- Green Mountain Power and Burlington Electric say at or below the line; Vermont Gas says less than. Ask if you are right on it.
- A referral page still listing 7.5 percent for Burlington Electric is out of date against the December 2025 tariff.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
A standing discount every month: 25 percent at Green Mountain Power, 20 percent at Vermont Gas, 12.5 percent at Burlington Electric.
- $25/month — Green Mountain Power discount on customer and energy charges
- $20/month — Vermont Gas low income discount
- $12.5/month — Burlington Electric discount on energy, demand and customer charges
- $185/year — Income boundary used by all three tariffs, percentage of the poverty guideline
Covers: A standing monthly discount on the bill
What it costs the family: Free to apply.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Income
- around 185 percent of the poverty guideline, with the exact boundary set by each utility
- Residency
- the utility's service area
The trap: The life support equipment registry is not protection. Burlington Electric says in capital letters that being on the listing does not keep you from being interrupted for non-payment. Register, but do not treat it as a shield.
Where I read this
- Green Mountain Power energy assistance programme — Green Mountain Power, read September 10, 2026
- VGS assistance programmes — Vermont Gas Systems, read September 10, 2026
- Burlington Electric Department energy assistance programme rate tariff — Burlington Electric Department, read September 10, 2026
- Burlington Electric Department life support equipment listing — Burlington Electric Department, read September 10, 2026
- CVOEO utility discounts — Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, read September 10, 2026