Lowering Utility and Energy Bills in California: A Caregiver's Guide to CARE, FERA, LIHEAP, Medical Baseline, and LifeLine

When money is tight and you are already stretched thin caring for a parent, the utility bills can feel like one more thing you cannot fix. The good news is that California has several real, established programs — and you do not have to choose just one. Most of them stack, so a single household can lower the gas bill, the electric bill, and the phone or internet bill all at once.

Here is the plainest way to think about the four main programs. CARE and FERA are ongoing discounts on your energy bill that show up every month once you enroll. LIHEAP (HEAP) is a payment toward your bill or a free home upgrade that you apply for periodically. The Medical Baseline Allowance is an extra energy allowance for households that run medical equipment. And California LifeLine discounts your phone or internet service.

If you only do two things this week, sign up for CARE and — if your parent uses medical equipment at home — the Medical Baseline Allowance. Both are handled directly by your utility company (Southern California Edison, SoCalGas, or San Diego Gas & Electric for most of Southern California), both keep saving you money month after month, and neither costs a penny to apply for. From there, you can layer on LIHEAP and LifeLine.

CARE stands for the California Alternate Rates for Energy program. It gives qualifying households a discount of at least 20% on their gas and electric bills — on the electric side the savings is often around 30%. It is the largest and most widely used bill-assistance program in the state, overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and delivered through your own utility company.

FERA — the Family Electric Rate Assistance program — is the companion program for families whose income lands just above the CARE limit. FERA gives an 18% discount, but only on the electric bill (not gas), so it applies through electric utilities like Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric. As of 2025, FERA also became available to one- and two-person households, not just larger families.

You can qualify two ways, and you only need to meet one of them:

The fastest path for many caregiving families is program-based enrollment. If your parent already receives Medi-Cal, CalFresh (food stamps), SSI, CalWORKs, WIC, or certain other public benefits, they generally qualify for CARE automatically — you may not have to document income at all. To apply, contact your utility directly (there is a CARE section on every utility's website and bill) or start at the CPUC CARE/FERA page. Enrollment is free, and you never pay a fee to sign up.

LIHEAP — the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which many Californians still call HEAP — is a federally funded program run in California by the Department of Community Services & Development (CSD). Unlike CARE, which is an ongoing discount, LIHEAP is help you apply for as needed. It can put money toward a heating or cooling bill, and its crisis component can help a household that has received a shut-off notice or has already been disconnected.

LIHEAP also pays for weatherization — free home improvements that lower energy use for the long term, such as attic insulation, weather-stripping, minor heating and cooling repairs, and sometimes appliance replacement. For an older adult in a drafty house or an apartment that overheats in the summer, weatherization can make the home both cheaper to run and safer to live in.

Eligibility is based on income: generally your household's gross monthly income must be at or below 60% of the State Median Income for your household size, which is a more generous limit than many people expect. Being enrolled in a benefit like CalFresh or SSI can also help you qualify.

One important caution: LIHEAP is funded year by year, and the money can run out before the program year ends. That means it pays to apply early rather than waiting until the crisis is at your door. You apply through your local service provider — the easiest way to find yours is to dial 211 (a free statewide referral line) or go through the CSD or CPUC LIHEAP pages listed in the sources. LIHEAP usually helps with a portion of a bill; it is not designed to erase the entire balance, so pair it with CARE for lasting relief.

This is the program caregivers most often miss, and it is one of the most valuable. If the person you care for relies on medical equipment at home — an oxygen concentrator, a CPAP or BiPAP, a nebulizer, a powered wheelchair, dialysis equipment, an electric hospital bed, or similar devices — that equipment quietly drives up the electric bill. The Medical Baseline Allowance (also called the Medical Baseline Program) gives the household a larger amount of energy billed at the utility's lowest rate, to help offset that added usage.

Two things make this program stand out. First, there is no income limit — it is based purely on medical need, so families who earn too much for CARE can still qualify. Second, it does more than save money: enrolled households get extra, earlier notifications before a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS), which matters enormously when someone depends on electricity to breathe or stay safe. Some households also become eligible for added support during outages.

You qualify if your household includes a full-time resident who depends on qualifying life-support or medical equipment, or who has certain conditions such as a life-threatening illness, paraplegia or quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma, or a compromised immune system. Every application must be certified by a licensed medical provider — usually the person's doctor.

To apply, go to your utility's Medical Baseline page (Southern California Edison, SoCalGas, San Diego Gas & Electric, or PG&E all offer it) or start at the CPUC Medical Baseline page. You provide the household information and your doctor's contact details; the doctor confirms the medical need, often by signing an emailed form. Because it is quick and there is no income test, this is worth doing right away if any medical device is in use.

Staying connected is not a luxury for a caregiving household — a working phone is how your parent reaches you, their doctor, the pharmacy, and 911. California LifeLine is the state program that discounts basic phone or internet service for low-income households. It provides a monthly discount of up to about $19, and when combined with the separate federal Lifeline discount (currently $9.25), a household can save more than $28 a month.

A few details help you use it correctly. The discount applies to one line per household — you choose either a home phone, a cell phone, or home internet, not all three. (A quick note to avoid confusion: the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, which offered a larger $30 internet discount, ended in 2024. The federal Lifeline program and California LifeLine both continue.) Eligibility works like CARE — either program-based (Medi-Cal, CalFresh, SSI, CalWORKs, and similar) or income-based, with limits updated each year.

How you apply is a little different from the other programs, so watch for this: you start by contacting a participating phone or internet company and asking for the California LifeLine discount. The state's LifeLine Administrator then mails you an application in a distinctive pink envelope containing a Personal Identification Number (PIN). Use that PIN to finish enrolling online at californialifeline.com, or mail back the signed form with your proof. If a pink envelope arrives, do not toss it as junk mail — it is your key to the discount.

Yes — combining is the whole point, and it is allowed. A single Southern California household might have CARE cutting the SCE and SoCalGas bills, the Medical Baseline Allowance adding cheaper energy for a parent's oxygen machine, a LIHEAP payment covering a summer cooling bill, weatherization sealing up the house, and California LifeLine lowering the phone bill — all at the same time. The one place you choose is inside LifeLine, where the discount covers a single line.

A simple order of operations keeps it manageable:

Keep a small folder — paper or a photo album on your phone — with your parent's proof of income or benefit enrollment (a Medi-Cal or CalFresh award letter, an SSI statement), a recent utility bill, and their doctor's contact information. Having these ready means you can knock out several applications in one sitting instead of hunting for documents each time.

Finally, a word of caution. These programs are free, and legitimate agencies will never ask you to pay a fee to enroll or demand a gift card or a Social Security number over the phone to 'keep the discount active.' You apply through your utility company, through 211, through the CPUC and CSD, or at californialifeline.com — not through someone who calls you unexpectedly. If a caller pressures you or threatens an immediate shut-off unless you pay right now, hang up and call the number printed on your actual bill. This guide is educational and not legal or financial advice; if there is ever a medical emergency, call 911.