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EAP Policy Manual FFY24 Chapter 8 Benefit Payments and Refunds Page 3 Primary Heat benefit is divided among their energy vendors, they can request such arrangements on their application or by contacting their Service Provider. Scheduled Primary Heat Payments If a household requests it, Primary Heat benefits can be sent to energy vendors in a series of smaller monthly payments instead of one larger payment. Payment schedules can only be created for connected utilities. Direct payments and benefits for delivered fuels can only be distributed in one payment. A payment schedule is normally four monthly payments. eHEAT reduces the number of scheduled monthly payments by increments of one beginning in January, to ensure all payments are distributed by the end of the heating season. eHEAT establishes the number, amount and dates of payments. Scheduled payments may be changed when the household and Service Provider work together to address the household’s particular situation. Managing Scheduled Payments Changes to the number, amount and dates of scheduled payments are made when using Primary Heat first to address emergencies. Changes to scheduled payments are also made by the Service Provider when working with a household to address non-emergency issues with an energy vendor if appropriate. Service Providers must document the reasons for these changes in eHEAT. The trigger for changing scheduled payments is often the amount of past due energy bills. Coordinate scheduled payments with the Crisis benefit. Use the Crisis benefit after Primary Heat has been applied. (See Chapter 5 - Crisis for using scheduled payments in energy emergencies.) Crisis Payments to Energy Vendors Crisis payments are made to the household’s account for heat and non-heat related energy services. Crisis payments are used to prevent shut-offs, reinstate service and enable delivery of fuel. The Crisis benefit is distributed in one payment within 7 calendar days as indicated in the Distributing Crisis Benefits section of Chapter 5 – Crisis. Payment to a Previous Energy Vendor If a household has changed energy vendors since applying for EAP or wants to return to a previous energy vendor and still owes a balance to that energy vendor, the household may request a portion of the benefit be sent to the previous energy vendor. You may not pay any portion of a household's grant to a previous energy vendor unless the applicant requests you