1. (a) The Energy Assistance Programs are referred to as the Energy Services Program for Low-Income Individuals in accordance with Texas Government Code, §2306.097. The Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) is funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grant. CEAP offers grants to community action agencies, nonprofits, and local units of government with targeted beneficiaries being households with low incomes, with priority given to the elderly; persons with disabilities; families with young children; households with the highest energy costs or needs in relation to income; and households with high energy consumption.
2. (b) The Comprehensive Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) combines activities, as defined in Assurance 16 (The State agrees to use up to five percent of such funds, at its option, to provide services that encourage and enable households to reduce their home energy needs and thereby the need for energy assistance, including needs assessments, counseling, and assistance with energy vendors, and report to the Secretary concerning the impact of such activities on the number of households served, the level of direct benefits provided to those households, and the number of households that remain unserved.) in the LIHEAP Statute (42 U.S.C. §8624 (b)(16)); education; and financial assistance to help very low- and extremely low-income consumers reduce their utility bills to an affordable level. Services include utility payment assistance; heating and cooling system replacement; repair and retrofit; energy education; and budget counseling as it pertains to energy needs.
3. (c) Due to diverse weather conditions in Texas, each local subrecipient will determine the key months for heating and/or cooling assistance to the household based on the household's energy consumption. For purposes of comparing federal to state activity categories, the Texas CEAP components reflect LIHEAP categories of heating and cooling. The months of December-February count for heating assistance, while March-November count for cooling assistance.
4. (d) The crisis assistance component will remain a year-round program. A portion of the crisis assistance funds will be reserved by the State for later distribution to ensure adequate crisis assistance after March 15. Crisis funds not used during the winter months for energy crisis will be made available to local agencies to start crisis operation for the summer months.
5. (e) The Department will reserve 15 percent of the federal LIHEAP grant award funds to implement the LIHEAP-Weatherization Assistance Program (LIHEAP-WAP) activities.
6. (f) The Department retains a maximum of 10% of the federal LIHEAP grant award funds for subrecipients' and the Department's administrative funds for CEAP and LIHEAP-WAP.

Source Note:The provisions of this §6.202 adopted to be effective April 1, 2007, 32 TexReg 1739.