CARE and FERA: The Discount Most Eligible Households Never Claim
It's a ten-minute form, no documentation is required up front, and it's worth hundreds of dollars a year. Hundreds of thousands of eligible California households aren't enrolled.
If your household income falls within the limits below, you can cut your electric bill by roughly a fifth to a third. The application takes about ten minutes and requires no documents up front.
A large number of eligible California households are not enrolled. The programs are not well advertised, the names are opaque acronyms, and many people assume they earn too much to qualify — often incorrectly.
The three programs
CARE (California Alternate Rates for Energy) is the main one: roughly a 20–35% discount on electricity, and about 20% on gas. It applies as a percentage off your bill, every month, automatically once you're enrolled.
FERA (Family Electric Rate Assistance) covers households that earn slightly too much for CARE. It's an 18% electricity discount, and it's aimed specifically at three-or-more-person households in that band.
ESA (Energy Savings Assistance) is different in kind and easy to overlook. Rather than discounting the bill, it pays for the work outright — attic insulation, weatherstripping, efficient refrigerators, and other measures, installed at no cost for qualifying households. Where CARE reduces the price of the energy, ESA reduces how much you need.
Worth understanding: CARE and ESA are complementary, not alternatives. Being on CARE generally makes you eligible for ESA, and the combination is far more valuable than either alone.
Who qualifies
Two independent routes:
By income. Limits scale with household size and are updated annually by the CPUC, so check the current table on your utility's site rather than trusting any figure you read elsewhere — including this page.
By program participation. If anyone in the household receives Medicaid/Medi-Cal, CalFresh/SNAP, SSI, WIC, LIHEAP, TANF/CalWORKs, the National School Lunch Program, or several others, the household generally qualifies regardless of the income calculation.
That second route matters, because it catches households who assume they earn too much. If a child in your home gets free or reduced-price school lunch, that alone is typically enough.
Applying
Apply directly through your utility — PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, and the others all have CARE/FERA enrollment forms in their online accounts. It is free. There is no application fee, and nobody legitimate charges to help you apply.
The form asks for household size and income. No documentation is required at the time of applying — you self-certify. Utilities do verify a share of enrollments afterwards and may ask for proof then, so answer accurately.
Enrollment typically lasts two to four years, after which you re-certify. Watch for that notice: dropping off because a re-certification letter got lost in the post is the most common way people lose the discount.
What it's worth
On a $250/month bill, a 30% CARE discount is $75 a month — about $900 a year. For a ten-minute form.
For comparison: that's more than most households would save from any single efficiency upgrade, it arrives immediately rather than paying back over years, and it costs nothing to obtain.
If you don't qualify
Check anyway before concluding you don't — the program-participation route surprises people, and the limits move each year.
If you genuinely don't qualify, the rest of the levers are still open: make sure you're on the right rate plan, move what you can out of the expensive evening window, and find whatever is running around the clock. None of those cost anything either.
A note on medical needs
Separately from CARE and FERA, California utilities run a Medical Baseline program for households with qualifying medical equipment or conditions. It provides additional electricity at the lowest rate rather than a percentage discount, and it can be combined with CARE. It requires a form signed by a physician. If someone in your home uses powered medical equipment, this is worth pursuing alongside everything else here.
Frequently asked questions
How much does CARE actually save?
Roughly 20–35% off your electricity bill, applied automatically each month. On a $250 monthly bill that's about $50–90 a month, or $600–1,080 a year.
Do I need documents to apply for CARE?
Not at the time of applying — you self-certify household size and income on the form. Utilities verify a portion of enrollments afterwards and may request proof at that point, so the information you give should be accurate.
Can I get CARE if I own my home?
Yes. Eligibility is based on household income or participation in a qualifying public assistance program, not on whether you rent or own.
What if my income changes after I enroll?
You're expected to notify your utility if your household no longer qualifies. Enrollment periods run about two to four years, with a re-certification at the end — and missing that notice is the most common reason people lose the discount.