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of all transfers made shall be sent to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies and to the committee or committees of cognizance, through the Office of Fiscal Analysis.

XV. PAYMENTS

In order for deliverable fuel heated households to receive CEAP benefits, bills for deliverable fuel must be submitted to the CAA and must be in the name of an adult household member or an emancipated minor. For households that heat with propane, kerosene, wood, or coal, payments will be based upon the actual cost of the delivery as stated on a valid bill. For households that heat with oil, payments will be made in accordance with one of the two approved CEAP oil pricing models: (1) Margin Over Rack (MOR), which uses Data Transmission Network (DTN) daily average rack price from four Connecticut terminals (Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, and Norwich) plus a fixed margin of $0.50 per gallon, or (2) Discount Off Retail (DOR), which applies a fixed $0.35 per gallon discount to the vendor’s lowest posted retail price. Payments will only be processed for deliveries made on or after November 3, 2025, and will be issued regardless of any customer payments made toward the bill. Unless otherwise specified in the Plan, all payments will be made directly to the authorized deliverable fuel vendor.

Pursuant to section 16a-41a of the Connecticut General Statutes, CAAs are required to pay oil vendors that participate in CEAP no later than ten business days after the CAA’s receipt of an authorized fuel slip or invoice for payment from the vendor. The Department has established and implemented protocols to ensure that vendors are paid by the CAAs in accordance with the timeframe that the Department established during the 2023 program year, which is now memorialized in state statute.

In order for a utility heated household to receive a Basic Benefit, the utility account must be in the name of a household member who is of majority status or an emancipated minor. Verification of the utility account number must be provided. Only residential accounts are eligible for payment. Basic Benefit payments will be credited to the household's utility account regardless of other payments made to the utility account. Basic Benefits are for utility costs incurred from November 3, 2025 – May 29, 2026. Should the Basic Benefit exceed the charges for the utility service incurred during this period, the utility company shall refund the difference directly to DSS by September 30, 2026. If a household moves and cannot be located, and a credit balance resulting from a CEAP payment(s) exists in their utility account, the balance is to be returned directly to DSS within sixty days of the close of the utility account.

Basic Benefit payments to electric distribution companies will be credited in accordance with DEEP regulations adopted pursuant to section 16-245d of the Connecticut General Statutes.

No payments will be issued on behalf of, nor services authorized to, unoccupied dwelling units.

If a household moves and their heating source and/or utility company changes, they may re-designate any unobligated portion of their Basic Benefit. Crisis Assistance benefits may be provided to eligible households if the new primary source of heat is a deliverable fuel, and the household meets the eligibility requirements as detailed in section XI.

If a household’s heating system becomes inoperable, the household has the option of utilizing a secondary heating source during the period of inoperability. The household may choose to go back to the original primary source of heat once the heating system has been repaired or replaced.

Basic Benefits may pay for the cost of a start-up of a household's natural gas heating system (not including reconnection fees) if the household makes direct-to-vendor payments and natural gas is the household’s primary heating source. CEAP benefits may pay for the cost of a start-up of a household's deliverable fuel heating system, provided the charge is the same that the vendor charges to all similarly situated customers