TO:	Commissioners; TA Directors; FS Directors; WMS Coordinators; CAP/TOP Coordinators, HEAP Coordinators

FROM:	Richard McElroy/RM, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Division of Temporary Assistance

SUBJECT   Terminating Indirect Payments to Energy Vendors

EFFECTIVE DATE:	Immediately

CONTACT PERSON:	Central Team (TA) at 1-800-343-8859; extension 4-9344	

Districts, as part of their routine business practices, should notify energy vendors when terminating a recipient’s indirect payment when the temporary assistance (TA) recipient’s case is closing or when the TA recipient’s energy account is no longer being indirectly paid by the district for other reasons.  Although the practice of notifying vendors when terminating indirect payments is commonly viewed as a courtesy to the vendor, routinely providing notice to an energy vendor, at the same time the recipient is noticed, is an important step in the process of helping recipients become self-sufficient.  Providing notice to energy vendors helps to assure that those recipients who no longer receive TA, or who are no longer participating in the indirect payment process are able to begin managing their energy related bills without the added burden of arrears or unpaid deliveries.  These arrears or unpaid deliveries often accumulate for the period between when the indirect payment ends and the point when the energy vendor receives notice of the termination or realizes that the indirect payment has been terminated.

Notification is especially important when the energy vendor is providing electric and/or natural gas service to the recipient’s dwelling.  Public Service Law Section 65-b prohibits utility companies from terminating a customer’s account status as being indirectly paid until such utility company receives notification from the local social services district terminating their indirect payment responsibility for a recipient.  This means that for the time period between when the indirect payment ends and when the utility company is notified of the change, the customer is building arrears on current service.

Many utility companies and some fuel dealers routinely provide districts with lists of customers coded as participating in the indirect payment process, for which no payment has been received in 60 or more days.  Districts should use these lists and provide feedback to the energy vendor regarding those individuals for whom the district should have, but failed to provide notice to the vendor indicating that a indirect payment was ending. The lists are also useful for reconciling unpaid or disputed balance problems with the account which may have been the responsibility of the district at the time the indirect payment was terminated.

A district has the option under the Client Notices System (CNS) to provide vendors with a system-generated letter terminating indirect payments when a TA case closes (Dear CNS Coordinator Letter, February 17, 1999).  This option does not exist when a district processes a change transaction.  Districts not opting to use the available CNS form, or when processing change only transactions, should develop a local form or other method to accomplish this action.  Districts must review current procedures relating to the termination of indirect energy payments, in order to minimize future arrears payments.

If you have questions regarding the information in this message, or have other concerns, please feel free to contact your representative listed above.