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EAP Policy Manual FFY24 Chapter 4 Primary Heat Page 9 The household’s benefit is computed by multiplying this percentage by their total energy cost and rounding the result: $1,900 x 50% = $950. Knowing Which Method to Use In most cases, the backup matrix is only used if a household’s actual energy costs are not available. However, there are several exceptions to this rule. Does the household have partial energy cost data from the previous year? If a household has less than 12 months of energy cost data from the previous year, eHEAT calculates the household’s benefit amount using both their actual consumption and the backup matrix. The system awards the larger amount. Are the household’s energy costs included in their rent? If a household’s energy costs are included in their rent, they can still receive a grant using the backup matrix. However, if the household is not required to pay for rent, heat, and electricity costs, they are not vulnerable to rising energy costs and are ineligible for EAP. Does the household have subsidized housing? If a household lives in Section 8 housing (project based or voucher), public housing, or tribal subsidized housing, this may affect their Primary Heat benefit. • Households who pay their own energy costs are eligible for Primary Heat benefit based on their actual costs. • Households who have heat included in rent and pay electric costs have their benefit determined by their electric costs. If the household has no actual electric consumption, the household gets the minimum Primary Heat benefit. • Households who pay neither heat nor electric costs to a vendor are not eligible for EAP. Does a household use their home for business purposes? If a household runs a business from their home, it may affect their energy usage. For example, if a household operates a catering business or garment repair service from their home, this would affect the amount of energy they use. Telecommuting for an employer also affects energy use. In these cases, Service Providers must check the ‘Shared meter/Business Use of Home’ box in eHEAT. The system will use either actual consumption or the backup matrix, whichever provides the lower benefit. Not all self-employment counts as business use of home. For example, truckers, drywall workers and house cleaners are all workers who technically work out of their home but perform little to no work at their residence. Service providers must use available information about each household to determine whether business use of home affects energy use.