California FERA Program: Income Limits, Discount, and How to Apply

The California FERA program gives an 18 percent discount on the electric portion of your monthly bill if your household income falls between 200 percent (plus one dollar) and 250 percent of the federal poverty level and you are a customer of PG&E, Southern California Edison, or San Diego Gas & Electric.¹ The Family Electric Rate Assistance program was built for households that earn too much for the deeper CARE discount but still feel the pressure of an electric bill.²

The discount is a flat line item on your electric statement each month. On a $250 bill, that’s about $45 off, or roughly $540 across a year. Summer and winter months with heavier heating or cooling produce bigger dollar reductions because the percentage applies to your actual usage.

Income Limits by Household Size

Your total gross annual household income has to sit in the FERA band for your household size. The current limits, effective June 1, 2025 through May 31, 2026, are:¹

1–2 people: $42,301 to $52,875
3 people: $53,301 to $66,625
4 people: $64,301 to $80,375
5 people: $75,301 to $94,125
6 people: $86,301 to $107,875
7 people: $97,301 to $121,625
8 people: $108,301 to $135,375
Each additional person: add $11,000 to $13,750

The upper end of each range is exactly 250 percent of the 2025 federal poverty guidelines.³ These numbers usually refresh in June, so if you’re applying near that transition, check with your utility for the current figures.

Two rules trip people up. You cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return unless that person is your spouse or domestic partner. And the address on the utility account has to be your primary residence.⁴

What Counts as Household Income

Household income means the total gross annual earnings of everyone living in the home, before any deductions. That’s pre-tax, before 401(k) contributions, before health insurance premiums, before anything comes out of the check. People commonly underestimate the total because they think in take-home terms.

Countable income includes wages, salaries, self-employment profits, interest and dividends, rental income, spousal and child support, Social Security, pensions, public assistance payments, and employment-related non-cash income.⁵ Southern California Edison’s application also lists disability and workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, scholarships and grants, and insurance or legal settlements.⁶ Add up every person’s pre-tax income for the past twelve months to get the right number.

Qualifying Through a Public Assistance Program

If someone in your household participates in one of several public assistance programs, you can qualify without a separate income calculation. The qualifying programs are:¹

CalFresh/SNAP
CalWORKs/Temporary Aid for Needy Families (including Tribal TANF)
Medicaid/Medi-Cal
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
Head Start (Tribal only)
Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance

If you already applied for CARE and were denied because your income was slightly too high, SDG&E will automatically check whether you qualify for FERA instead.⁴ PG&E and SCE customers denied for CARE should contact the utility to ask about FERA.

Which Utilities Participate

California law limits FERA to the three largest investor-owned electric utilities:²

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
Southern California Edison (SCE)
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)

If your electricity comes from a municipal utility like LADWP or SMUD, FERA does not apply.¹ Some municipal utilities run their own low-income programs on separate rules. Community choice aggregator customers can generally still apply because billing runs through the underlying investor-owned utility.

How the Discount Applies

Once you’re approved, the 18 percent discount appears automatically as a line item on your monthly electric bill.² It applies only to electric charges. If you have bundled gas and electric service, the gas portion is not reduced, and water, sewer, and trash charges aren’t affected.¹ You don’t reapply each month; the discount continues until your enrollment expires.

FERA Versus CARE

CARE and FERA are companion programs. CARE offers a deeper discount, 30 to 35 percent on electricity plus 20 percent on gas, for households up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. FERA takes over from 200 percent plus one dollar up to 250 percent.¹

If you’re not sure which one fits, apply for CARE first. The larger discount is worth aiming for, and if you’re over the CARE limit, at least one utility will screen you for FERA automatically. If your income drops later, you can apply for CARE. If it rises above the FERA ceiling, you’ll lose the discount at your next recertification.

How to Apply

All three utilities accept applications online, by mail, or by phone. No documentation is required at the time of application. You declare household size and income, and the utility may verify later.⁵

You’ll need your utility account number from a recent bill, the number of people in your home, and the total gross annual income for everyone in the household. Applications are signed under penalty of perjury, so the figures need to be accurate. Online submissions typically get a response in 24 to 48 hours; paper applications take around 30 days.⁷

PG&E customers can apply online, by mail to P.O. Box 29647, Oakland, CA 94604-9647, or by email to CAREandFERA@pge.com with “FERA application” in the subject line. Tenants in sub-metered residential facilities have to use the paper form.⁵ SDG&E takes applications online or at 1-877-646-5525.⁴ SCE customers can apply through their online account or request a paper application.

Renewing Your Enrollment

FERA doesn’t renew itself. Standard enrollment lasts two years. Households on fixed income, primarily Social Security or pensions, get four years.⁵ Your utility sends a renewal notice roughly three months before expiration. Miss the deadline and the discount ends.⁴ Most people who lose FERA don’t lose it because they stopped qualifying. They lose it because they set the letter aside.

Post-Enrollment Verification

Separately from renewal, your utility can select you for a verification audit at any time during your enrollment. If selected, you’ll get a letter or email with a due date and need to provide one of the following:⁸

A letter dated within the past year showing that someone in your household participates in a qualifying public assistance program
Documents verifying your household’s total gross annual income
A completed zero-income affidavit, if no one in the household has any income and no one participates in a qualifying program

Your FERA rate stays active until the verification deadline, so you have time to gather records. Missing the deadline or turning in incomplete documents drops you from the program.⁹

If You’re Denied

There is no formal appeal process. Utilities encourage you to reapply whenever your income situation changes. At PG&E, reapplications within 24 months of a denial have to include proof of income. Questions about a denial go to 1-877-660-6789 or CAREandFERA@pge.com.⁵

Before reapplying, check the two most common errors. Did you miscount the people in the home, which shifts the income bracket? Did you enter net pay instead of gross? Either mistake can push a qualifying household out of range.

If You Move

Within the same utility’s service area, PG&E’s guidance says the CARE discount transfers automatically when you close service at the old address and open it at the new one.¹⁰ Review your first full bill at the new address and confirm the FERA line item is there. If it isn’t, call customer service to reinstate it. If you move from one utility’s territory to another, apply fresh with the new utility. Your eligibility carries; the enrollment doesn’t.

1
California Public Utilities Commission. CARE/FERA Program
2
California Legislative Information. California Code Public Utilities Code PUC 739.12
3
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2025 Poverty Guidelines
4
San Diego Gas & Electric. Apply Now for the FERA Bill Discount
5
Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Family Electric Rate Assistance Program (FERA)
6
Southern California Edison. CARE/FERA Program Income Guidelines
7
Southern California Edison. Post-Enrollment Verification
8
Southern California Edison. CARE/FERA – Recertification and Post-Enrollment Verification
9
Pacific Gas and Electric Company. CARE FERA Post-Enrollment Verification
10
Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Will My CARE Discount Transfer to My New Address