Texas energy and utility bill assistance: CEAP and weatherization (2026)

How TDHCA routes CEAP money to 35 county providers

TDHCA does not hand out LIHEAP money to individuals and does not accept applications ⁠⁸. It contracts with local subrecipients: community action agencies, private nonprofits and some city or county governments. Together they cover all 254 Texas counties ⁠¹. The 2026 State Plan lists 35 local administering agencies ⁠³. The local agency decides eligibility, pays your utility or fuel company directly, and arranges repair or weatherization work ⁠³.

In practice, Texas has no statewide online application. The State Plan says some subrecipients offer an online or downloadable form, and the rest take applications by phone, by mail or in person ⁠³. Funding is also held locally: TDHCA warns that providers may be at capacity and unable to help everyone who calls ⁠⁸. If your county’s provider is out of money, the next options are local: city and county programs and charities listed on Texas 2-1-1.

The 150% line and how Texas counts 30 days of income

For heating, cooling, crisis and LIHEAP-funded weatherization, Texas uses one income test: gross household income at or below 150% of the HHS poverty guidelines ⁠³. TDHCA’s Program Year 2026 chart took effect January 26, 2026 ⁠². You are also eligible if at least one person in the household receives SSI, SNAP, TANF or a means-tested veterans benefit ⁠⁷. That categorical eligibility gets you in the door but does not set the size of your benefit. The provider still documents income to place you in a benefit band ⁠⁶.

The provider does not look at last year’s tax return. It collects proof of all household income received in the 30 days before the application date and annualizes it: monthly pay times 12, biweekly pay times 26, and so on ⁠⁶. The rule lists 56 kinds of excluded income, including SNAP benefits, tax refunds, child support received, scholarships and disaster assistance ⁠⁶. Texas sets no asset test for CEAP ⁠³. Social Security numbers are not required, but the provider verifies immigration status through the federal SAVE system. Mixed-status households are not turned away only because one member is ineligible ⁠⁷.

CEAP’s three income bands and the $12,600 household cap

Under 10 TAC §6.309, the maximum utility payment depends on where your annualized income falls against the poverty guidelines ⁠⁴. The same caps apply separately to the Utility Assistance component and the Crisis Assistance component.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Sources: band caps from 10 TAC §6.309 ⁠⁴; dollar thresholds are 50%, 75% and 150% of the 2026 guidelines on TDHCA’s income chart ⁠².

Several other rules shape the amount you actually get:

• Total cap. All CEAP benefits combined may not exceed $12,600 per household per program year. Payments on existing energy arrears have no limit and do not count toward that cap ⁠⁴.
• Number of bills. Households with a vulnerable member (the State Plan names older adults, people with disabilities and young children) can have their remaining bills covered through the program year, up to the maximum. Other households are limited to six remaining bills ⁠⁴.
• How the amount is set. Providers base payments on your previous 12 months of energy use, with an allowance for inflation. Any amount above the actual bill stays on your account as a credit ⁠³. TDHCA allows a full year of projected use to be paid as one lump sum ⁠³.
• Priority. Each provider must rank applicants with a written point system. High energy burden (energy costs as a share of income) must carry the most weight ⁠⁷.

When a Texas utility emergency counts as a CEAP crisis

A shutoff notice alone is not the test. Crisis Assistance is for households that have already lost service or are in immediate danger of losing it, and only under one of three conditions defined in rule: Extreme Weather Conditions, a Disaster, or a Life Threatening Crisis ⁠⁵. The provider has 48 hours to deliver help for extreme weather or a disaster and 18 hours for a life-threatening crisis. The clock starts when your application is complete ⁠⁵.

A Life Threatening Crisis includes a household member who relies on electric equipment such as dialysis machines, oxygen concentrators, medicine refrigeration or cardiac monitors. It also covers a member whose doctor has prescribed a set room temperature, or a dangerous lack of heat or cooling ⁠³. Providers may not ask for documentation of the medical condition. You state that the equipment is needed because of a life-threatening illness or risk of death ⁠³.

Crisis help can be more than a bill payment: up to 250 gallons of emergency fuel per crisis, reconnection costs, blankets, fans and generators ⁠⁵. In a life-threatening crisis, any eligible household can receive portable or window air-conditioning or heating units, or mini-splits, with space heaters allowed only as a last resort ⁠³. When a disaster cuts off power, CEAP can pay for temporary shelter and transportation to it ⁠³. For system repairs, households with a vulnerable member can get an existing unit serviced or repaired, or a unit purchased if none exists, up to $9,000. Other households get that help only during a crisis ⁠³.

Applying through your county’s CEAP provider

1. Find your provider

   On TDHCA’s Help for Texans page, choose “Utility Bill Payment Help,” enter your city or county, and note the agency name and phone number ⁠⁸. If no provider is listed or none answers, use Texas 2-1-1 at 211texas.org ⁠⁸.

2. Ask how that agency takes applications

   Each provider sets its own intake: phone, mail, email, an online form or office appointments ⁠³. If a disability makes travel hard, ask for a reasonable accommodation. The State Plan says applications can be mailed in, and some agencies visit the home ⁠³.

3. Gather 30 days of income proof

   Bring pay stubs, benefit letters, and Social Security, pension or unemployment statements for everyone in the household for the 30 days before you apply ⁠⁶. If someone has no income, TDHCA publishes a Declaration of Income form for that purpose ⁠². Proof of SNAP, TANF, SSI or a means-tested veterans benefit establishes categorical eligibility ⁠⁷.

4. Bring your utility and fuel bills

   Bring the current bill, plus any disconnection notice. Providers set payments from your 12-month usage history, which they can request from your electric provider ⁠³.

5. Say so if it is an emergency

   Tell the intake worker right away if service is off, a disconnection is imminent, someone depends on medical equipment, or the AC or heater has failed. That starts the 48-hour or 18-hour clock ⁠⁵.

6. Wait for the written decision

   Each provider must have a written procedure stating how long it takes to decide once your file is complete. The rules do not set one statewide deadline ⁠⁷.

7. Reapply when your benefit runs out

   CEAP runs year-round. FFY 2026 funds are budgeted from October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2027 ⁠³. You need a new application each program year.

Weatherization in Texas: 200% for DOE-funded jobs, 150% for LIHEAP-funded

The Weatherization Assistance Program is a separate service run by the same subrecipients, paid for by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and by part of the LIHEAP grant ⁠⁹. It does not pay bills. A crew performs an energy audit, then caulks, weather-strips, adds ceiling, wall and floor insulation, patches holes, fixes duct work, and tunes up, repairs or replaces inefficient heating and cooling systems ⁠⁹. TDHCA’s 2026 chart sets the income limit at 200% of poverty for DOE-funded WAP ($66,000 for four) and 150% for LIHEAP-funded WAP ⁠². A household where someone receives TANF or SSI is categorically eligible for DOE-WAP ⁠¹⁰.

LIHEAP-funded weatherization is capped at $12,000 per household ⁠³. Homes weatherized with federal money before can be done again only after 15 years ⁠³. Priority goes to households with older or disabled members, young children, and high energy burden or consumption ⁠¹⁰. TDHCA publishes no statewide wait times. Use the “Weatherization” option on Help for Texans to find the right agency, which may differ from your CEAP provider ⁠⁸.

LITE-UP Texas ended; Austin and San Antonio run their own discounts

Older articles still mention LITE-UP Texas, the discount paid for by the state System Benefit Fund. It no longer exists. The Legislature ended the fee that funded it, the remaining balance was paid out by September 1, 2016, and the program’s legal authority expired September 1, 2017 ⁠¹¹. Texas has no statewide low-income electric rate today. The discounts that remain come from city-owned utilities:

• Austin Energy Customer Assistance Program (CAP). Enrolled customers pay no monthly Customer Charge or CAP portion of the Community Benefit Charge, and get 10% off kilowatt-hour charges ⁠¹². You qualify if anyone in the household receives CEAP, Medicaid, CHIP, SSI, VASH, free or reduced-price school lunch, a housing voucher, Lifeline or the Travis County MAP program, or if household income is at or below 200% of poverty. Eligible customers can be enrolled automatically through third-party data matching or can self-enroll with documentation ⁠¹².
• CPS Energy Affordability Discount Program (ADP). Income must be at or below 150% of poverty (under $1,995 a month for one person in 2026). The household must also include someone 60 or older, someone with a disability, someone who uses life-sustaining equipment, or a child, or spend more than 10% of income on energy ⁠¹³. The discount has been $18.36 a month for combined electric and gas since February 2025, and enrollment must be renewed every year ⁠¹³.

In the competitive retail electric market, the main protection is a CEAP pledge. Texas utility rules quoted in the State Plan bar a retail electric provider from disconnecting you during a billing period if an energy assistance provider’s pledge arrives by the due date on the disconnection notice and you pay or arrange to pay the rest. The retail provider must allow at least 45 days for the pledge to be paid ⁠³. Disconnections are also barred in a county during an extreme weather emergency (freezing temperatures, or a National Weather Service heat advisory) and for registered Critical Care customers ⁠³.

Denied or stuck? The two-step CEAP appeal

If a provider denies your application or does not act on it in time, first ask that agency for a hearing. If you disagree with its decision, appeal to TDHCA, which schedules a fair administrative hearing ⁠³. You should be told about these rights on the application, at intake, or in the denial letter ⁠³. The 2026 State Plan reports no fair hearings in the prior federal fiscal year, so this route is rarely used ⁠³. LIHEAP never charges an application fee. Report anyone offering a “LIHEAP grant” for a fee to the HHS fraud hotline at 1-800-447-8477 ⁠¹⁴.

For other help in the state, see the Texas assistance hub or compare other states on the energy and utility assistance page.