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SECTION 1100 APPLICATION PROCESSING

LIHEAP MANUAL JANUARY 2022 55

1100.7 PRE-PAY UTILITY HOUSEHOLDS

Households who are eligible for LIHEAP benefits with prepaid accounts should be considered for Crisis status/payments. • Intake worker should notate “Pre-paid Account” on utility bills that are not easily identified as prepaid. • Intake worker must call the utility company on all Pre-Pay utility accounts to determine account status. • For Crisis determination, if the pre-pay account has 7 days or less of available funds based on the average daily usage, the application must be given Crisis status. • If the monthly installment amount of the arrearage/deferred balance plus the current balance exceeds the amount of $350/$450/$500 qualified for, the client is ineligible for LIHEAP assistance unless the agency chooses to match other funds or the client provides the difference via donation or payment to the vendor. Ex. Georgia Power’s Installment Payment Plan (IPP).

1100.8 PSC ENERGY ASSISTANCE

If the household: • Does not have heating service and, • Is served by AGL pipelines and, • Is not able to establish service with a gas marketer and, • Meets basic eligibility criteria o Then complete a referral to the PSC'S Regulated Marketer If the Household: • Is served by the AGL Pipeline and, • Meets basic LIHEAP eligibility criteria o Then determine eligibility for the PSC funded energy assistance o Application Standard of Promptness and processing requirements are the same as the Regular LIHEAP application 1100.9 PSC SENIOR MATCH PROGRAM

If the Household: • Is 65 years of age or older and, • Is served by the AGL pipelines and, • Meets the basic eligibility criteria and, • LIHEAP and PSC Senior Match funds are available o Then determine eligibility for the Senior Match component which provides an additional benefit equal to the LIHEAP grant. o Standard of Promptness and processing requirements are the same as the Regular LIHEAP component.