Assistance Programs
Financial assistance may be available to eligible low-income households for home heating needs through federally funded programs and crisis assistance offered by counties.
Energy Assistance Programs (EAP)
| Contact your local Indiana
Community Action Agency, which administers the Indiana Energy Assistance Program (EAP) for income-eligible customers, and can provide intake information about the application process and program requirements. To qualify for EAP and USP, your annual household income cannot exceed 60% of the State Median Income (SMI). EAP is available to Indiana customers with CenterPoint Energy natural gas service and/or CenterPoint Energy electric service.
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Universal Service Program | A program for Indiana natural gas customers, the Universal Service Program (USP) provides a monthly discount on residential gas charges during the heating season. By enrolling in EAP (outlined above), customers are automatically enrolled in USP. The monthly discount of 15 to 32% applies from December through May 31.
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Customer Assistance Fund | The Customer Assistance Fund (CAF)*, provides eligible customers with financial assistance to help manage their energy bills. The Fund was designed to offer a helping hand to families and individuals who typically wouldn’t qualify for public assistance.
Click here to find out more information and if you qualify for public assistance.
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Need help finding the right program for you?
Click here to find out which program best fits your qualifications.
Special Payment Options
To help you avoid late payment fees and remain in good financial standing, we offer special one-time due date extensions for customers who qualify. However, once an extension is granted, it is not permanent. Your due date will return to the original date listed on your next bill. There is no fee for enrolling in the program.
Request payment extension
Enrolling in Payment Arrangement allows you to pay a total bill in smaller increments over a set period of time. There is no fee for enrolling in the program.
Once you are enrolled, you must pay your installments by the due dates displayed on your monthly CenterPoint Energy bill. In addition, you must pay the current charges on your monthly CenterPoint Energy bill by the due date provided on that bill. Failure to meet both requirements will automatically break the arrangement, and you will be required to pay the entire account balance immediately to avoid service disconnection.
Set up payment arrangement
Medical Hardship
We understand that sometimes, due to medical expenses, keeping up household bills may be difficult. That’s why we are offering our Medical Hardship Program to help our customers better manage their CenterPoint Energy bill. You will need to contact CenterPoint and let us know they are struggling to pay their bill due to a medical hardship. We have multiple options to best fit the customer’s current needs. The customer may receive:
- A 2-month grace period on late fees
- Automatic enrollment in our Budget Billing program – a free billing option that takes your energy bill and spreads it out over 12 months so the customer will have a consistent bill that they can budget around
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OR
- Automatic enrollment in a personalized 4-month payment plan
To enroll call 800-227-1376
