Home › Utility bill help
Free help · bills
Keep your lights, heat and water on
Behind on a utility bill or holding a shutoff notice? You have more options than you think, and most of them start with one phone call.
Facts checked October 14, 2026.
Energy Assistance Hotline: 1-866-674-6327Free national line that points you to energy help in your area. Weekdays, 9 a.m.–7 p.m. Eastern.
Call 211Or text your ZIP code to 898-211. Free, 24/7 in most areas: local help with utility, rent and food bills.
Act today
Got a shutoff notice?
- Don't ignore it. Find the shutoff date and the amount you need to pay to stop it. That's often less than your full balance.
- Call your utility today, using the number on your bill. Ask for a payment plan or more time. Use our call script. Get the agreement in writing, or write down the date and the rep's name.
- Someone in your home is seriously ill? Most states let a doctor's note pause a shutoff for a while. Tell the utility right away and ask what form they need.
- Apply for energy help now (LIHEAP). Tell them you have a shutoff notice. Federal rules require crisis help to start within 48 hours of an eligible application, or 18 hours if it's life-threatening.
- Check your state's protections. Many states block shutoffs in very cold or hot weather, or during winter months, for some households.
- Already shut off? Call anyway. Ask what it takes to reconnect today, whether the deposit or fees can be waived or spread out, and whether energy help can pay to restore service.
LIHEAP
Energy bill help
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps pay heating and cooling bills, including gas, electric, propane, oil and wood, and offers crisis help to stop or fix a shutoff. Your state runs it, often through local community action agencies.
Apply early this winterCongress has kept LIHEAP at last year's level for now, and many states help people in order until the money runs out. Some states open first to seniors and people with disabilities.
On SNAP, SSI or TANF?Federal rules let states count you as eligible automatically. Say so when you apply.
Do I qualify for energy help?
Your state
Your state's help & protections
What to say
Your call script
Pick your situation and fill in what you know. The script updates as you type. Copy it, or keep it on screen while you call.
Water & sewer
Help with the water bill
The federal water assistance program (LIHWAP) ran out of money at the end of 2023, so water help is now mostly local. It's still worth asking:
- Call your water utility (often your city) and ask about payment plans, low-income discounts, senior discounts, and hardship programs.
- Big bill out of nowhere? Ask for a leak adjustment. Many utilities credit part of the bill once you fix a leak.
- Call 211 or your local community action agency. Some have emergency funds for water.
- Check your state's energy help office too. A few states still help with water.
Stay connected
Phone & internet
Lifeline
- Up to $9.25 a month off internet or phone-and-internet service, or $5.25 off phone-only service ($34.25 on qualifying Tribal lands)
- Qualify with income at or below 135% of the poverty line, or if you get SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, federal housing assistance, or a Veterans Pension
- One discount per household
Low-cost internet
- The federal Affordable Connectivity Program ended in 2024, but many providers still have low-income plans, for example Comcast Internet Essentials, Spectrum Internet Assist, AT&T Access, Verizon Forward and Optimum Advantage
- Prices and rules change, so ask your provider: "Do you have a low-income or SNAP discount plan?"
Spend less
Lower your bill
Budget billing
- Pay about the same amount every month instead of huge winter or summer bills
- Ask your utility. It doesn't lower your total, but it makes it predictable
Discount rates
- Many utilities have low-income, senior or disability discounts
- Ask: "What discount programs do you have, and do I qualify?"
Medical programs
- If someone uses medical equipment at home or needs heat or cooling for a health condition, ask about medical or critical-care programs. Some lower rates or add shutoff protections
Fix it for good
Free home weatherization
The federal Weatherization Assistance Program pays for work that cuts your energy use for good, such as insulation, sealing air leaks, and heating and cooling repairs, at no cost to you.
- Who qualifies: households at or below 200% of the poverty line, or getting SSI. Some states use their energy help rules instead.
- Renters can apply too, with the landlord's permission.
- Expect a waitlist. Apply now, even in summer. Getting energy help (LIHEAP) can make you eligible, and many local agencies run both.
Stay safe
Watch for utility scams
"This is the power company. Your service will be shut off in one hour unless you pay now with a gift card."
That's a scam. Real utilities send written notices, and they don't demand gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or payment-app transfers. They also don't make paying by phone your only option.
- Hang up and call the number on your bill or the utility's website, never a number the caller gives you.
- Never give bank or card details to someone who called you.
- Someone at the door says they're from the utility? Ask for ID, and call the utility to check before letting them in or paying anything.
- Report scams to the real utility and at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Stay safe
Extreme cold & heat
Staying warm safely
- Never run a generator inside your home, garage or basement. Keep it outside, at least 20 feet from the house
- Never heat your home with a gas stove or oven
- Space heaters: keep 3 feet from anything that can burn, plug straight into the wall (not a power strip), and turn off while sleeping
- Have a working carbon monoxide alarm. If it sounds, get outside right away
- No heat? Call 211 to find a warming center
Staying cool safely
- No AC? Spend the hottest hours somewhere cool: a library, mall, or a cooling center (call 211)
- Drink water often and check on older neighbors
- Call 911 if someone is confused, stops sweating, or has very hot skin. That can be heat stroke
- Never leave children or pets in a parked car
More help with bills: rent & mortgage help, SNAP food benefits, or dial 211 (text your ZIP to 898-211), 24/7 in most areas.