CenterPoint Energy's Gas Affordability Program* is designed to help qualifying customers lower their monthly gas bills and pay past due balances. To qualify for the program, customers must have received a Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grant for the current heating season. Click here for eligibility guidelines. If accepted into the program, customers can receive credits on their monthly natural gas bill.
The Gas Affordability Program (GAP) offers the following benefits:
- Helps customers lower monthly natural gas bills and pay past due balances.
- Participants who continue to make payments will not have their natural gas service shut-off.
- Flat monthly payments help customers manager their budgets.
The Gas Affordability Program (GAP) offers two types of credit:
A monthly GAP Affordability Credit for current natural gas charges. A customer’s monthly natural gas charges will be estimated for the remaining months of the program year and then averaged to provide a fixed monthly bill amount for current charges. CenterPoint Energy will credit the account for current gas charges that are greater than 6 percent of a customer’s annual household income. The flat amount for current natural gas charges will not exceed 6 percent of a customer’s annual household income.
A Matching GAP Installment Credit for any past due natural gas charges on a customer’s account prior to enrollment in the Gas Affordability Program. CenterPoint Energy will apply LIHEAP grants to the past due balance. If there is a past due balance remaining, CenterPoint Energy will create a GAP Installment Plan for the remaining amount to be paid over 12 to 24 months. Each month a customer pays the GAP Installment amount, CenterPoint Energy will match it with an equal amount in credit. This matching credit will be applied after CenterPoint Energy receives the customer’s GAP payment. If customers participating in the program make their monthly installment payments, they will be paying for only one-half of the pre-program past-due balance. Past-due balances for other charges, such as the Home Service Plus® Repair Plan, are not covered under GAP.
Please contact CenterPoint Energy at 612-372-4727 or 1-800-245-2377 for more information. Apply today! Click here to download an application.
* GAP is offered under the Gas Affordability Service Program Tariff and is subject to annual regulatory review by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
