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Energy Bill Help — No Veteran Discount, but a Disabled Veteran Is a Targeted Household

There is no veteran rate on a power bill here. What exists is a state-administered assistance programme at 150% of the poverty level whose named vulnerable groups include people with disabilities — and which lets a disabled applicant send someone else to the appointment.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

There is no veteran rate on a power bill here. What exists is a state-administered assistance programme at 150% of the poverty level whose named vulnerable groups include people with disabilities — and which lets a disabled applicant send someone else to the appointment.

What it's worth: A payment made straight to the energy vendor, sized by income, household and fuel type

  • The economic and community affairs department administers the programme and contracts with community action agencies and local nonprofits to deliver it county by county.
  • The department states that household income must not exceed 150% of the federally established poverty level.
  • The target population is low-income households, especially those with the lowest incomes and the highest home energy costs or needs relative to income, taking family size into account.
  • Additional named targets are low-income households with especially vulnerable members, including the elderly, persons with disabilities and young children.
  • The department's summarised eligibility sheet states the amount depends on gross household income, family size and the type of fuel used to heat or cool the home, and that the household is responsible for any remaining balance after the state pays.
  • Payments are made directly to the participating vendor, typically within thirty days of approval, and the household is notified when a payment is made on its behalf.
  • The applicant must live in the state, be a citizen or qualified alien, supply proof of income for all household members for the month before application, supply Social Security cards for all household members and photo identification for the applicant, and supply a recent heating or cooling bill in the name of the head of household or spouse showing the account number.
  • A dissatisfied applicant may request a conference or a formal hearing; a formal hearing must be requested in writing to the local agency within 45 days of being told the decision, and the state office makes the final decision.
  • The eligibility form carries a signed permission block letting a household head who is aged 60 or over, or disabled, send someone else to make the application on their behalf.
  • The department does not schedule appointments and does not accept or process applications itself — the community action agency for the county does.
  • No veteran category, veteran priority or veteran discount appears anywhere in the department's eligibility material read this session.

Who is entitled to it

  • Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.

How to claim it

Deadline: While the season's funds last
  1. 1Contact the community action agency for your county, not the state department. The department says plainly that it neither books appointments nor processes applications.
  2. 2Use the proxy provision if getting to an appointment is the barrier. An applicant aged 60 or over or disabled may sign permission for another person to apply on the household's behalf — for a housebound veteran that is the difference between applying and not.
  3. 3Bring the bill in the right name. It must be in the name of the head of household or the spouse and must show the account number, and a bill in an adult child's name will stop the application.
  4. 4Expect the money to go to the utility, not to you, and keep paying the balance. The state payment is partial by design.
  5. 5Appeal in writing within 45 days if you are refused. The hearing route is real, it is decided at state level, and the sheet says free legal services may be available.
  6. 6Do not go looking for a veteran discount instead. The administering department names none, and the disability targeting is the only route a veteran's service opens here.
Form
Application through your county community action agency
File with
The community action agency serving your county
Annual
Claimed once a year.
CorrectionA veteran-specific utility discount does not exist in this state and, on the evidence of this round, barely exists anywhere. What exists is assistance that pays part of the bill, and a veteran reaches it through income and disability like everyone else — not through service.
Worth knowingThe income figures on the eligibility sheet read this session date from an earlier programme year and will have moved. The 150% of poverty test is the durable part; the dollar table is not, and the county agency holds the current one.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.