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Louisiana LIHEAP Service Delivery Guide 45 | P a g e

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B. Total Energy Cost for Persons With Utility Bill(s) With Credit Balances If the energy bill being used contains a credit balance, the Subgrantee must first determine the cause of the credit balance. Bills that contain a credit balance due to client payments should continue to be processed using the current monthly energy costs as stated above.

Examples of Credit Balances due to Client Payments:  Prepaid utilities aka “Pay-As-You-Go”,  Client payment advance or over payment,  Levelized billing,  Automatic Bank Account Draft, etc. If the current monthly energy costs are not provided to a prepaid applicant (aka Pay-As-You-Go) by a utility vendor, then the Subgrantee must use the Prepaid Utility Calculation Worksheet (Appendix M) to determine the TEC.

On the other hand, an energy bill with a credit balance due to any type of previous energy assistance (LIHEAP or another agency) can be used to compute the Total Energy Costs (TEC), but the vender with the remaining energy assistance benefit balance will not be eligible to receive a new benefit payment. In instances where there is a credit balance from un-used energy assistance (LIHEAP or another agency) on a bill, the applicant is not eligible to be served until the energy assistance credit on their account has been fully expended. In order to determine the TEC for clients with different heating and cooling vendors, Subgrantees should use both gas and electric bills with a Payment Due Date that is no more than thirty (30) days old. For instances where the heating and/or cooling bill has a previous energy assistance benefit credit, the Subgrantee should calculate and enter into the LES system the Monthly Total Energy Cost and select “Credit on Bill” for the vendor with the credit. Selecting “Credit on Bill” will prevent that specific vendor from receiving a benefit payment for the client’s account. NOTE: The Subgrantee should use both gas and electric bills for the same month to qualify clients when both are presented. The Subgrantee must not omit a Heating and/or Cooling bill with a previous energy assistance credit balance in order to qualify a client for assistance. This requirement will not disqualify a client from receiving Crisis assistance for either Heating or Cooling vendors, if acceptable verified documentation is received demonstrating an energy crisis.