How FPL's assistance programs work — a guide to getting help with your electric bill
Falling behind on an electric bill in Florida is concerning, because in most of the state going without power also means going without air conditioning. Florida Power & Light serves more homes than any other utility in the state, including the northwest Florida area that used to be Gulf Power.
If your FPL bill is past due or a disconnection notice has arrived, there is help. This is a guide to a charity fund that pays part of the bill, ways to get more time, government grants, and protections for people with medical needs. Before anything else, call FPL at the number printed on your bill and tell them you are having trouble paying. Asking early keeps more options open, and it can help delay a disconnection while you apply for aid.
Care To Share pays part of the bill during a crisis
Care To Share is FPL's emergency fund. Employees, shareholders, and other customers donate the money, and it goes to households that hit a sudden crisis, such as a job loss, an illness, or another emergency that made the bill impossible to pay. If you are approved, the money is applied to your FPL account. Each household can get this help once in a twelve-month period.
FPL does not decide who gets the money. Local nonprofits and government agencies, such as community action agencies, the Salvation Army, and United Way partners, take the applications and make the decisions. You will need identification showing the same address as the FPL account, though you do not have to be the account holder. You also need a past-due bill, final notice, or disconnect notice, proof of the hardship, and a plan for paying future bills.
The program uses the United Way's ALICE income guidelines, which will often reach working households that earn too much for many government programs but still cannot cover a crisis. Households with seniors, children under ten, or a person with a disability may get priority. Demand is heavy and funds run out, so apply as soon as trouble starts. You can find the agency for your county through the assistance listings at https://www.fpl.com/help.html or through your local community action agency - see the NHPB guide to community action in Florida.
A payment extension gives you more time
If the problem is timing rather than the full amount, FPL offers an online payment extension that pushes back the due date for qualifying customers. You request it by logging into your account at fpl.com. If you owe more than one bill's worth, call FPL and ask what payment arrangements are available for your account. An arrangement you keep up with also protects you from disconnection while you catch up.
LIHEAP and EHEAP pay FPL bills with government money
Two government programs send grant money straight to FPL accounts. LIHEAP helps income-qualified households with cooling and heating costs, and it includes a crisis benefit that can stop a disconnection or restore power. EHEAP does the same for households with someone age 60 or older.
You apply through local agencies or online, not through FPL, and the full details, income rules, and application steps are on our Florida LIHEAP and weatherization page. If you have applied, tell FPL, since a pending application can matter when a shutoff is close.
Seniors and people on fixed incomes get billing options built for them
FPL's 62Plus plan gives residential customers on fixed incomes a full month after the bill is issued to pay it. That matters when the bill arrives before the Social Security check does. FPL Friendly Reminder is a free service that sends a copy of any shutoff notice to a person you choose, such as an adult child or a trusted friend, so a missed letter does not turn into a missed warning. FPL field workers also run a service called AWARE, watching for elderly customers who appear to be struggling alone and connecting them with social service agencies. Dialing 211 reaches those same agencies directly.
Budget Billing evens out the summer spikes
Budget Billing averages your electricity costs over the year so you pay about the same amount every month instead of getting hit hardest in the summer. It is free, but understand what it is not: it does not lower your total cost, and the difference between what you use and what you pay builds up as a deferred balance. If you leave the program or get removed because of a past-due bill, that balance is added to your next bill and you cannot rejoin for twelve months. It is a good fit for a steady but tight budget, and a risky fit for an account that is already behind.
Medical equipment at home changes how FPL handles your account
If someone in your home depends on electric-powered medical equipment, sign up for FPL's Medically Essential Service. A Florida-licensed physician certifies the need, and you must renew every year. The service gives you extra notices before a disconnection for non-payment and special notices before and after a hurricane, plus referrals to agencies that give financial help.
Be clear about the limits, because this is where families get hurt: it does not prevent disconnection and it does not excuse the bill. It buys warning time, and FPL still expects you to have backup power for outages.
Free help to reduce the bill itself
FPL offers a free Home Energy Survey that shows what is driving your usage, and qualified customers can receive free energy-saving services along with it through neighborhood Community Energy Saver events. Income-eligible households can also get efficiency improvements plus a bill credit through the Saving Steps program. One caution straight from FPL: the company does not call customers out of the blue to offer energy surveys, so treat any such call as a fake.
Storm damage to your meter equipment has its own help
After a hurricane, power sometimes cannot be restored to a house because the meter can or the weatherhead, the metal box and the pipe where the line attaches to the home, was damaged. Repairing those is the homeowner's responsibility, and paying an electrician for it after a storm is a hardship of its own. FPL now offers Electric Repair Assistance to help qualifying customers pay for those repairs. Details are at fpl.com/help.
Watch out for fake FPL websites and phone numbers
The scam hitting FPL customers hardest right now starts with an internet search. Scammers push fake FPL payment pages and fake customer service numbers to the top of search results, and the person who calls or pays through them hands over money or bank details to a criminal.
Never search the web for FPL's phone number or a payment link. Use the number printed on your bill and the payment methods listed at fpl.com. FPL will never demand payment through a gift card, prepaid card, cryptocurrency, or apps like Zelle, Cash App, or Venmo, and no real FPL worker collects payment at your door. If you paid a fake, report it to FPL, your local police, and the Florida Attorney General's office.
Where to start
Call FPL at the number on your bill and ask about payment assistance and an extension. Then apply for Care To Share through a partner agency in your county and for LIHEAP through your local provider agency, because the charity fund and the government grant can work together on the same account. FPL also has a dedicated page listing programs, including by county, at https://www.fpl.com/help/assistance.html.
Community forum
Sometimes it is helpful to see how others have received help or to interact with other FPL customers. The moderated community forum, and the thread about FPL assistance programs, is where customers of Florida Power and Light share where they receive help or they share details on their struggles keeping up. You can read real people’s experiences from company’s service territory.
This page is general educational information about Florida Power & Light assistance programs, not legal or financial advice. Programs, eligibility rules, and funding change, so confirm current details with FPL or the administering agency before you rely on them.
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