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EAP Policy Manual FFY24 Chapter 4 Primary Heat Page 10

Does a household rent out part of their home? If a household rents out part of their home and is deemed a separate household, Service Providers must check the ‘Shared meter/Business Use of Home’ box in eHEAT. The system will use actual consumption or the backup matrix, whichever provides the lower benefit. If the renter is considered part of the landlord household, do not check the ‘Shared meter/Business Use of Home’ box in eHEAT. Does a household heat outbuildings from the same meter or tank they heat their home with? EAP does not include heat for a garage or other outbuildings in home energy costs. For households in this situation, Service Providers must check the ‘Shared meter/Business Use of Home’ box in eHEAT. The system will use actual consumption or the backup matrix, whichever provides the lower benefit. Primary Heat Payments Primary Heat benefits are paid to energy vendors on behalf of households. When a household is approved for Primary Heat, EAP service provider authorize payments to their energy vendor. Payments are processed by Minnesota Management & Budget and transferred to vendors via Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) or mail. When payments are received, energy vendors credit them to the household’s account. Energy vendors must apply Primary Heat payments only to their corresponding household accounts. When payments create a credit on a household’s account, it must remain on the account as long as the household is a customer. Credits must be refunded to EAP if the household ceases to be customer or if requested by an EAP service provider. Direct payments to households are allowed in limited circumstances. For more on refunds and direct payments, see Chapter 8 - Benefit Payments and Refunds. Benefit Determination Errors When a benefit determination error occurs, a benefit fix is required if the correct benefit amount changes from the incorrectly determined benefit by $10 or more. This applies to both underpayments and overpayments of $10 or more. If the household was underpaid, provide the additional benefit. If the household was overpaid, follow instructions in the Overpayments Resulting from Error section of Chapter 10 - Incidents and Appeals.