LIHEAP Program Duration: Heating, Cooling, and Crisis 2022

We do not run a cooling program. We have extended our heating season to year-round and are now issuing heating and crisis benefits on a year-round basis.

Arizona has identified date ranges for heating and cooling and has assigned a date range to each county for FFY 2023.

1)HEATING (November 1-March 31) and COOLING (April 1-October 31) for counties: Coconino, Yavapai, Navajo, Apache, Greenlee, Graham,Cochise, and Santa Cruz.

2) HEATING (December 1-March 31) and COOLING (April 1-November 30) for counties: Mojave, La Paz, Yuma, Maricopa, Gila, Pinal, andPima.

The heating and cooling months overlap due to weather conditions. Since the LIHEAP adjudication and application processing portion of this program will be administered within DES through the utilization of an online portal, DES will be allocating monthly LIHEAP funds based on the heatingand cooling needs of each location. DES will budget in this manner in order to keep the LIHEAP program operating throughout the entire year. Theheating and cooling months illustrate when heating and cooling begins for each Arizona region. The above dates are based on the calendar year andnot on the FFY 2023. Funding for the Federal Fiscal Year is not affected by the heating and cooling months listed above.

Energy-Related Repair (ERR) Crisis assistance start date: 10/01/2022, or when funds are available, whichever is later. End date: 9/30/2023. When a dateof operation falls on a weekend or holiday, the effective dates will be the first business day following the list date except for 9/30/2023. The lastdate of operation for the federal fiscal year or the last business day is 9/30/2022.

07/01 - 09/30

11/01 - 09/30

Please note that AR provides payments on a seasonal basis. Although the agencies start preparation in October, the public applies in January for the Winter Program and July for the Summer Program.

 

The year round Crisis Intervention Program (CIP) allows for the repair or replacement of inoperable primary fuel heating systems. The State contracts with Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC), a local non-profit agency, to manage this program. EOC coordinates with local weatherization agencies and other licensed HVAC companies, which has provided the opportunity to repair and/or replace inoperable systems prior to the start of the cold weather season ensuring the health and safety of vulnerable households, and throughout the entire year.

11/01 - 06/16

11/01 - 06/23

Heating assistance application process is 1 August - 31 March, Cooling (Air Conditioning) assistance application process is 1 April - 15 August. Crisis assistance application process is ongoing but dependent on the weather conditions. However, the weather criteria will be waived for the program year 2023.

The Department of Energy requires the Weatherization Fiscal Year to begin on 07/01 of the current year. The State is required to follow this guideline.

04/03 - 06/30

11/01 - 06/30

The contract to the Community Action Agencies for the LIHEAP program is from October 1, 2022 until September 30, 2023. The Heating and Crisis assistance is seasonal from November 1, 2022 until March 31, 2023. A cooling program is seasonal from April 1, 2023 until June 30, 2023 . The weatherization program is operated from October 1, 2022 until September 30, 2023.

03/01 - 09/30

03/01 - 09/30

LIHEAP Program Timeline Late September – Distribute policy and forms to Community Action Agencies (CAA) for new FFY October 1 - New LIHEAP year begins with year-round Weatherization and Crisis assistance. Weatherization is overseen by the Hawaii DLIR OCS and contracted to the CAA. LIHEAP Crisis assistance intake is done by CAA. February to March - Finalize training materials (presentations, handouts). CAA preparation begins including hiring seasonal staff. April - Training for year-round staff of CAA that elect to do early outreach in May. CAA contact resident managers at Senior and Public housing to schedule on-site application intake. May - Year-round CAA staff conduct early outreach for Heating and Cooling Assistance. Training done for seasonal staff hired by CAA to assist with Heating and Cooling application intake. June 1-30 - LIHEAP applications accepted from the general public for Heating and Cooling Assistance

10/01 - 03/31

The end date for heating assistance is estimated. This category is dependent on the amount of funding received

11/01 - 05/15

11/01 - 05/15

Indiana allows for mail-in applications to begin September 14. On October 1, LSPs may begin to schedule appointments to begin on November 1. Crisis starts on November 1 because by starting crisis November 1, clients will be able to qualify for moratorium.

The online application portal will open on November 1.

We do not plan to administer any benefits in the summer. We have attempted to adjust our matrix to expand the majority of LIHEAP funds

during the winter.

In 2022, we are allocating 9% to Weatherization

01/03 - 03/31

01/03 - 03/31

Kansas elects to run heating only program starting in January

11/07 - 12/16

05/01 - 09/30

If funding allows, the crisis component may be extended through the end of April. The cooling funding received was expended in about 3 weeks.

04/01 - 09/30

Any Heating assistance funds that have not been expended by March 15 will be reprogrammed to Cooling assistance. Any Weatherization assistance funds that have not been expended by June 30 will be reprogrammed to Cooling Assistance.

Heating Assistance: For FFY 2023, Subgrantees will begin taking applications on July 18, 2022 and will continue taking applications

through July 15, 2023.

Weatherization Assistance Component: End date of 09/30/2023 unless MaineHousing extends beyond 09/30/2023

Program components will all be open year round based on availability of funds.

10/1 - 09/30

10/01 - 09/30

11/01 - 03/31

Customers do not apply separately for crisis assistance in Maryland and there are no separate fuel benefits provided. Crisis assistance is provided as expedited assistance as defined by Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) 07.03.21.10. Crisis assistance funds are also provided to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development through and Inter-Agency Agreement for emergency heating and/or cooling system repair and replacement.

An application received on April 30th must be completed by the applicant no later than May 31st. If April 30th falls on a weekend, the last business day in April will serve as the final date to apply for fuel assistance. After consideration of the circumstances, which may include a particularly inclement winter, increases in fuel prices, lower than expected application numbers, an extension of the statewide moratorium, etc., DHCD may extend the application date from the end of April into the month of May.

An online client portal is offered in addition to the hard copy application, and currently includes the options of online appointment booking, prescreening tools, and submitting the application online.

A portion of crisis assistance may be administered through the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP), depending on the federal grant award. MEAP grantees have the option of spending a limited portion (30 percent of their grant), during the non-crisis season which is June 1 t

hrough October 31. Crisis assistance administered through the Department of Health and Human Services State Emergency Relief (SER) program

may be approved outside of the crisis season on an exception basis.

When a date of operation falls on a weekend or holiday, the effective date will be the first business day following the listed date with the exception of September 30. The last date of operation for the Federal Fiscal year is September 30 or the last business day in September if September 30 is on a weekend.

• Primary Heat and Crisis will be made available upon receipt of initial FFY2023 federal award

• ERR will begin 10/1/23

• Crisis may be obligated through 7/1/23

• ERR may be obligated through 9/15/23

• Applications must be received or postmarked by May 31, 2023

Funding for Weatherization Assistance will be available to the Weatherization Assistance Program in the Minnesota Department of

Commerce (Commerce) after receipt of 100% of the regular LIHEAP federal allocation and the approval of the EAPWX State Annual Plan.

10/01 - 09/30

year-round

Missouri will operate the LIHEAP program year round. Individuals may apply for heating or cooling assistance from October through September. This change was implemented in November, 2021.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provides heating assistance to eligible households during the heating season (October through March). DHHS may determine a household's eligibility for heating assistance after the heating season if a household applied for/requested LIHEAP assistance during the heating season and eligibility was not determined, eligibility was incorrectly determined, or a household had a current application (a pending or active economic assistance program case) during the heating season and eligibility was not determined.
• DHHS may begin determining eligibility for heating assistance prior to the beginning of the heating season. If this occurs, heating assistance payments will not be issued until the beginning of the heating season. DHHS will make this decision based on operational and technical capabilities. Eligibility Staff will be notified via guidance if eligibility will be determined prior to the begin date for the heating season.
• DHHS currently provides a year-round crisis assistance program. For each program year (October through September), DHHS accepts and processes applications and crisis assistance requests according to the earliest application date until DHHS determines that pending payments will exhaust available funds for the program year. Upon making this determination, DHHS will accept no more applications for crisis assistance for the program year. DHHS contracts with the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) to administer the weatherization assistance program. The availability of the cooling assistance program and the variables used to determine eligible households will depend on the LIHEAP funding received and available for the current federal fiscal year. DHHS typically provides cooling assistance to eligible households during the cooling season (June through August). DHHS may determine a household's eligibility for cooling assistance after the cooling season in certain situations, such as eligibility for a timely application or request was not determined by the end of the cooling season, or eligibility was incorrectly determined.
• DHHS may determine a household's eligibility for cooling assistance prior to the beginning of the cooling season. If this occurs, cooling assistance payments will not be issued until the beginning of the cooling season. DHHS will make this decision based on operational and technical capabilities. Eligibility staff will be notified via guidance if eligibility will be determined prior to the begin date for the cooling season.

 

For heating or cooling eligible households, an extra payment may be made in the form of a supplemental payment or an increase in the

regulat season's payment during the current energy year. The supplemental payments may be processed and issued at any time during the current

LIHEAP program year (October through September). The need for a supplemental payment for households that received heating and/or cooling

assistance may be identified during or following the heating or cooling season, as the reason for the supplemental issuance may be due to

circumstances including but not limited to: high energy costs; extreme weather; disasters; pandemics; an excess or additional funding.

For example, a supplemental payment may be issued in September (or any month of the year) for LIHEAP eligible households that received heating assistance or for LIHEAP eligible households that received cooling assistance if it identified excess funds exist. Processing and issuing the supplemental payments late in the program year allows DHHS to more easily project the number of households that will receive the supplemental payment. These payments may be issued to either a provider or to the household.

 

Supplemental payments are typically issued to the

utility provider; however; below are some situations in which a supplemental payment would be issued to the houshold:

• The utility provider does not cooperate with DHHS in accepting payments; or,

• An economically vulnerable household's utilities are included in rent.

A copy of Nebraska's current LIHEAP regulations (Title 476) are attached. We are currently in the process of making regulation updates.

10/01 - 06/30

10/01 - 06/30

11/01 - 03/15

Program end dates are contingent upon availability of funds.Request for Cooling Assistance is part of the general applicaiton for LIHEAP Assistance which starts 10/01 and ends 06/30 of the following year. However, the Program starts issuing Cooling payments the first week of May through August.

11/01 - 03/15

5/01 - 8/31

1/03 - 3/15

The Heating Assistance component may be extended beyond the proposed 3/15/2023 closing date if New York State receives additional funding. This Plan is based on an assumption of flat Federal funding. The Crisis Assistance component may be extended beyond the proposed 3/15/2023 closing date if New York State receives additional funding. New York State will operate a Heating Equipment Repair and Replacement component from 10/03/2022 until 9/29/2023, or until funding allocated to this component is exhausted, whichever comes first. New York State will operate a Clean and Tune Program under the Heating Assistance component from 10/03/2022 and to close on 09/29/ 2023, or until funding allocated to this program is exhausted, whichever comes first. New York State will operate a Cooling Assistance component from 5/1/2023 until 8/31/2023, or until funding allocated to this component is exhausted, whichever comes first. Weatherization assistance in New York State is administered by the New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

The Cooling program will be funded by ARPA dollars.

Historically and by virtue of our legislation North Carolina always submits a waiver except last year because we were not required to. For 2022, North Carolina will be submitting a waiver requesting up to 25%.

10/01 - 05/31

The Winter Crisis program dates are indicated above.

The Summer Crisis program dates are 07/01/2022 - 09/30/2022

10/01 - 02/25

05/16 - 09/08

Weahterization is managed by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and subcontracted to Community Action agencies throughout the state.

DHS offer heating assistance, cooling assistance, and ECAP during Open Enrollment period on the dates above. Application are accepted

until allocated funding is encumbered. End dates above are estimates.

DHS accept application for ECAP assistance year round from households with a household member that has a medical condition and would become life threatening without the use of the utility. Regular ECAP is also accepted on or after March 15th to meet the ECAP requirement component.

11/01 - 04/28

11/01 - 04/28

South Carolina will operate the LIHEAP program based on the calendar year, January 1 - December 31, 2022. Therefore, heating assistance will also be provided October 1 – December 31, 2022. South Carolina's Weatherization operates April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023. South Carolina utilizes the SC Enterprise Information System (SCEIS) to ensure the proper tracking of federal grant awards by the appropriate year.

THDA reserves the reallocate LIHEAP funds as needed to ensure that funds can be utilized before the end of the obligation period.

THDA reserves the ability to increase client benefit amount across fuel types, as needed, in order to reduce the energy burden for LIHEAP Households.

year-round

year-round

year-round

Application for the households with members of a target group (elderly, disabled, children under 6 years of age) will be processed beginning October 1st. The program will open to the general public on November 1st. Cooling assistance will be provided from April 1st to September 30th and will be offered in all geographical areas of the state.

Applications for heating assistance are processed year-round by the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF), Economic Services Division (ESD). Applications for winter crisis assistance are processed by Vermont's five Community Action Agencies under grant agreements with ESD, beginning the last Monday in November up to and including the last business day in April, or until crisis funds are exhausted, whichever occurs first.

Vermont also operates a year-round, limited-funded, crisis fuel tank replacement program for fuel tanks that have been "red-tagged," or are at imminent risk of failure. The crisis tank replacement program is operated under an interagency agreement with the Department of Environmental Conservation and a second agreement is in place with the DCF Office of Economic Opportunity. In addition, DCF Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) also operates under our Crisis program a year round furnance repair and replacement program.

Weatherization assistance operates year round and is conducted by the the DCF Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), Weatherization Program.

10/11 - 11/14

6/15 - 8/15

11/01 - 3/15

Washington will operate year round.

year-round

If funding permits, crisis assistance, which includes the Emergency Repair and Replacement progam, will run the length of the program. The Agency will primarily use funds for heating assistance and crisis assistance; if there are funds remaining a cooling services program will be offered.

Provide cooling services in parallel with heating throughout the period of performance for the fiscal program year to improve efficient of services to the client while the contractor or agency is there to do a repair or replacement. If the cooling system is not working then it can be resolved at that time without a gap in services. The heat index throughout the state during peak months warrants this due to impact on peoples wellbeing. The level of funding for the program would also cover any demand and should not prohibit it.

10/01 - 05/31

Applications for regular seasonal heating assistance are accepted through 02/28/2023; however, heating bill payments for approved applications are paid November 1 through May 31 for those submitting applications by the 2/28/2023 deadline until the recipient exhausts their benefit amount or the season end date is reached, which ever comes first. Regular Crisis assistance is available through 04/15/2023, unless extended due to continued severe weather and/or increased fuel prices; applications for Weatherization assistance are accepted year round. Wyoming is a cold weather state with very few months of hot weather. Because of limited funding and long winters, Wyoming does not provide Cooling assistance. However, Wyoming does offer some cooling system repairs/installs via the Weatherization Assistance Program. Season begin and end dates are: Heating assistance regulated utilities (seasonal benefit) November 1, 2022 - May 31, 2023; Crisis assistance (Special Situations) October 1, 2022 - April 15, 2023 (Wyoming exercises a contingency plan allowing an extension of the Crisis season beyond 04/15 if Wyoming experiences a severe and prolonged winter season, or in the event prices for deliverable fuels increase significantly mid-season); Weatherization assistance (LIEAP WAP) October 1, 2022- September 30, 2023; Unregulated deliverable fuels heating assistance (seasonal benefit) October 1, 2022 - May 31, 2023. In FFY2022, Wyoming will also provided arrearage benefits to households with large arrearage amounts owed where a regular crisis benefit would not be sufficient to bring the household current and prevent disconnection. The arrearage benefit will be paid from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) of 2021 LIHEAP award. Additionally, Wyoming will provide a seasonal heating assistance benefit for secondary heat sources, which in most cases is electricity. This secondary heat source benefit will be paid from the ARP of 2021 LIHEAP award. Wyoming uses a centralized application intake and processing procedure so having an application deadline for heating assistance applications ensures that we have enough time to follow up and process incomplete applications before the season end date. The heating assistance benefit is retroactive to the heating season start date and benefits will be paid out til the benefit is exhausted or the season end date is passed, which ever comes first. Our outreach efforts ensure that applicants and the public are aware of the heating assistance application submission deadline.