Energy Vendor and Local Administering Agency Agreements

Energy Vendor Agreements

Examples of waivers on LIHEAP applications that clients sign to release utility data.

Local Administering Agency Agreements

Grantees aren't required to contract with local agencies for administration or delivery of LIHEAP. However, most do so in order to have local sites where agency staff can help LIHEAP clients with one or more of the following:

  • Provide LIHEAP applications
  • Complete LIHEAP applications
  • Determine eligibility and benefit levels
  • Process LIHEAP benefit payments
  • Conduct local outreach to ensure residents are aware of LIHEAP
  • Provide referrals to other organizations that provide essential human services

If states choose to contract with local agencies, the stipulations in Assurances 6 and 15 apply in regard to states' designation of certain types of local agencies. Among states that have county welfare offices as local administering agencies, it may not be necessary to have contracts with these agencies because they are units of state government and their duties are outlined in statute in some states. Beyond that, issues related to subgrantee contracting are state-specific depending on how much the state has delegated to local agencies. For example, some states may utilize local administering agencies (LAAs) only for intake, outreach and assistance with applications; in other states LAAs determine eligibility and benefit levels, and some LAAs process benefits as well. More information is available in state/subgrantee contract documents from these states:

Click here to read how some states allocate funding to local administering agencies. Example of template for scoring proposals for new subgrantee contracts.