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PIPP Plus — a Gas and Electric Bill Set at 5% or 10% of Household Income

Ohio’s percentage of income payment plan sets the monthly bill at 5% of household income for electric and gas service, or 10% in an all-electric home, with a $10 minimum. It is income-tested at 175% of the federal poverty level and carries no veteran route — which is worth knowing before spending time looking for one.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Ohio’s percentage of income payment plan sets the monthly bill at 5% of household income for electric and gas service, or 10% in an all-electric home, with a $10 minimum. It is income-tested at 175% of the federal poverty level and carries no veteran route — which is worth knowing before spending time looking for one.

What it's worth: 5% of monthly household income for electric and/or gas, 10% in an all-electric home, $10 minimum

  • The consumers’ counsel states that customers with household income at or below 175 percent of the federal income level qualify.
  • For a single-person household the published limits are $27,930 over twelve months and $2,295.62 over thirty days. Those are the figures the consumers’ counsel publishes for 2026-2027 and they move each year.
  • The bill is "five percent of the household’s monthly income for electric and/or natural gas service", and "PIPP Plus customers in all-electric homes are billed ten percent of their monthly income". The minimum payment is $10.
  • Paying the PIPP amount in full and on time earns a 1/24th credit against arrears each month, so two years of on-time payments clears what was owed.
  • The regulator puts the same mechanic more generously: "When a customer pays their monthly PIPP Plus amount on time and in full, a portion of their past-due balance, and the remaining amount of that month’s bill, is forgiven as a credit on their utility account."
  • Customers must reverify income every twelve months and report any change in income or household size within thirty days.
  • The programmes moved department on 6 April 2026. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services now administers them, and states there is no interruption of service and no change in the application process.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are an Ohio utility customer, which is where the plan runs.
  • Your home is in Ohio.

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.

How to claim it

  1. 1Work out the household income first. The test is 175 percent of the federal income level, and for one person the published limits are $27,930 over twelve months or $2,295.62 over thirty days.
  2. 2Count everyone in the house. The limit rises with household size, and the figures above are the single-person ones.
  3. 3Check which bill you are asking about. Five percent of monthly income covers electric and/or natural gas; an all-electric home is billed ten percent.
  4. 4Pay it in full and on time every month. Each on-time full payment earns a 1/24th credit against what was owed, and missing one costs you that credit.
  5. 5Put a reminder in the calendar for eleven months out. Income has to be reverified every twelve months, and a lapse drops you off the plan.
  6. 6Tell them within thirty days if income or household size changes.
  7. 7Apply through your local energy assistance provider. The department that runs the programmes changed on 6 April 2026 and states there is no change in the application process, so an older leaflet naming the previous department still describes the right route.
  8. 8Ask about the telephone Lifeline discount in the same conversation. The regulator lists it alongside these programmes for income-eligible households, and says wireless and broadband providers also offer it.
  9. 9If you are serving and deployed, ask about the Patriot Plan instead or as well — that one is not income-tested.
Form
Ohio Energy Assistance application
File with
Your local energy assistance provider or community action agency
Annual recertification
The office asks you to confirm each year.
CorrectionThere is no veteran version of this and no veteran discount bolted onto it. The consumers’ counsel fact sheet sets eligibility on household income alone and does not mention veterans anywhere. A veteran below the income line uses the same plan as everyone else below it.
Worth knowingThe 1/24th arrearage credit is the part people miss. The plan is not only a smaller monthly bill — twenty-four consecutive on-time payments in full also clear the old balance.
Worth knowingThe all-electric ten percent is not a penalty. It is one payment covering the whole of a home’s energy where the five percent version covers a bill that sits beside a gas bill.
CorrectionThe department changed on 6 April 2026. Guidance and leaflets that send you to the Ohio Department of Development for energy assistance are out of date — the Department of Job and Family Services runs these programmes now, and says there is no interruption of service and no change in the application process. Your local energy assistance provider is still the place to apply.
Known gapWhether VA disability compensation counts toward the household income figure is the question a veteran will actually ask, and none of the three pages read answers it. We do not publish an answer, and the local energy assistance provider is the place to put the question.

Sources

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