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household applies on September 14 with a disconnect notice for September 21, and the LSP cannot contact vendor with pledge until November 1). In these cases, LSPs are simply to award crisis according to the billing circumstances at the time of application. If, on the other hand, the applicant does not turn in a utility billing statement at the time of application, or if the applicant turns in a non-current utility billing statement, the intake may contact the utility vendor to obtain a copy of the billing statement. In general, the intake should take care to request the billing statement that would have been current at the time of application. If it comes to the LSP’s attention that an applicant whose eligibility has not yet been determined has gone into disconnect status since submitting their application, the intake may escalate the application in order to address the crisis within timeline requirements, but the benefit is to be awarded based on the billing status at the time of application. Clients can receive a crisis benefit twice on each utility as long as the maximum benefit has not been awarded (at the time of initial application and one more time). If the client does not qualify for crisis at the time of application, they may return once per utility for crisis if they experience an energy emergency after eligibility determination. This means that clients with separate heat and electric utilities may potentially return twice for additional crisis benefits, while clients in total electric households may only return once. Crisis benefits are awarded subject to availability of funding, meeting of eligibility criteria, and the ability of the funds to ensure continuing service. While clients may be eligible for up to $400 in crisis funding per utility, this is not guaranteed. Clients are not entitled to crisis benefits by virtue of being approved for LIHEAP benefits, and crisis benefits are not considered to be part of a household’s total benefits until and unless they receive a notification letter awarding them such benefits. The allowable crisis benefit is the actual amount needed to maintain or restore service. For regulated utilities, the household must provide a utility bill with a disconnect amount or verification from the utility company that the client is up for disconnect, or that the household is in a payment arrangement. The LSP must show in the client file how the crisis award was determined. If a household with regulated utilities has a documented energy crisis, the crisis benefits should be applied to the bill prior to applying the regular benefit.