CARE for Qualified Nonprofit Group Living Facilities

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Group living facilities, homeless shelters, hospices and women's shelters may be eligible for the CARE (California Alternate Rates for Energy) Program. Apply to receive a monthly discount on your energy bills if your facility meets the requirements below.

To Qualify

• The organization operating the facility must provide a copy of the 501(c)(3) document certifying tax-exempt status.
• All Pacific Gas and Electric Company accounts must be in the name of the organization holding the tax-exempt status.
• Seventy percent of the energy supplied to each Pacific Gas and Electric Company account including common use areas must be used for residential purposes.
• All of the residents or clients (including family units) occupying the facility at any given time must individually meet current CARE income eligibility requirements for a single-family household (on-site assistance is not counted in this calculation).

Facilities Not Eligible

• Nonprofit facilities providing social services only.
• Group living facilities providing no other service than a place to live.
• Government owned or operated facilities.
• Government-subsidized facilities providing lodging only.

Additional Requirements

• Group living facilities must provide special-needs social services such as meals or rehabilitation, and may have satellite facilities in the name of one licensed organization that meet the same requirements as the main facility. Group living facilities include transitional housing such as drug rehabilitation centers or halfway houses, short- or long-term-care facilities, group homes for the physically or mentally challenged, and other nonprofit group living facilities.
• Homeless shelters, hospices and women's shelters must provide lodging as the primary function, must be open for operation with at least six beds for a minimum of 180 days and/or nights per year and may also have satellite facilities in the name of one licensed organization that meet the same requirements as the main facility.

Guidelines

• Organizations are required to re-certify every two years by completing a new application and attaching proof of tax-exempt status and a statement of how the discount was used in the previous year to directly benefit facility residents.
• Separate applications must be filed for each type of facility (a homeless shelter, a women's shelter, a hospice or group living facility), even if they are under one licensed organization.
• Facilities must notify Pacific Gas and Electric Company if they no longer qualify for the CARE discount.

Read our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

To Apply

Download and print the following application. The income guidelines help determine facility eligibility.

• Application in English (PDF, 76 KB)
• Income Guidelines (PDF, 131 KB)

Sign and mail it to:

Pacific Gas and Electric Company
CARE Program
P O Box 7979
San Francisco, CA 94120-7979

Or FAX to: 415-973-6419

You can also have applications mailed to you by calling the CARE Program at : 1-866-PGE-CARE (1-866-743-2273) or e-mailing CAREandFERA@pge.com.

Re-certification

You must re-certify for the CARE Program in two years. Three months before your discount expires, you will receive a letter and application from PG&E giving you the opportunity to re-apply if you still qualify.

To request a re-certification application mailed to you, please call the CARE Program at 1-866-743-2273 (1-866-PGE-CARE) or e-mail CAREandFERA@pge.com.