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Tennessee Housing Development Agency 2025 LIHEAP Policy Manual for Regular and Crisis Assistance 48

Chapter 6 – Utility Vendors and Vendor Agreement Requirements 6.1 Suspension and Debarment SAM Registration The System for Award Management (SAM) is the U.S. Federal Government’s primary database for collecting, validating, and storing supplier data. This data is then made available to various government agencies, including civilian, military, and some state and local governments. Subgrantees must implement written controls to ensure that energy providers have not been suspended or debarred under federal regulations. These controls must be available for review during monitoring site visits to ensure compliance. For additional guidance on SAM registration and debarment, please refer to the following website: https://sam.gov/content/home.

6.2 Vendor Agreements Subgrantees are required to enter into Vendor Agreements with utility providers to process LIHEAP payments. These agreements can remain effective for up to three (3) years. It is important that: • The vendor and the client cannot be the same individual. Additionally, the vendor and the client cannot reside in the same household due to a conflict of interest. • If the client and vendor are close relatives, the client must seek a different vendor. • In instances where vendors are limited, it is permissible for the client and vendor to reside in the same household, but this must be documented, and a receipt of fuel delivery must be provided to ensure transparency.

6.3 Performance Measurement Subgrantees must gather annual household energy usage and client data from vendors. This requirement is embedded in the Vendor Agreement and is essential for tracking energy usage. Agencies will be responsible for entering this data into the SmartSimple system during the application process so that this information can be collected and monitored by THDA.