305 ILCS 20/6

(305 ILCS 20/6) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 1406)

(Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 103-663)

Sec. 6. Eligibility, conditions of participation, and energy assistance.

(a) Any person who is a resident of the State of Illinois and whose
household income is not greater than an amount determined annually by the
Department, in consultation with the Policy Advisory Council, may
apply for assistance pursuant to this Act in accordance with regulations
promulgated by the Department. In setting the annual eligibility level, the
Department shall consider the amount of available funding and may not set a
limit higher than  150% of the federal nonfarm poverty level as established by
the federal Office of Management and Budget or 60% of the State median income for the current State fiscal year as established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; except that for the period from the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly through June 30, 2021, the Department may establish limits not higher than 200% of that poverty level. The Department, in consultation with the Policy Advisory Council, may adjust the percentage of poverty level annually in accordance with federal guidelines and based on funding availability.

(b) Applicants who qualify for assistance pursuant to subsection (a) of
this Section shall, subject to appropriation from the General Assembly and
subject to availability of funds to the Department, receive energy
assistance as provided by this Act.  The Department, upon receipt
of monies authorized pursuant to this Act for energy assistance, shall commit
funds for each qualified applicant in an amount determined by the
Department.  In determining the amounts of assistance to be provided to or
on behalf of a qualified applicant, the Department shall ensure that the
highest amounts of assistance go to households with the greatest energy
costs in relation to household income.  The Department shall include
factors such as energy costs, household size, household income, and region
of the State when determining individual household benefits.  In setting
assistance levels, the Department shall attempt to provide assistance to
approximately the same number of households who participated in the 1991
Residential Energy Assistance Partnership Program.  Such assistance levels
shall be adjusted annually on the basis of funding
availability and energy costs.  In promulgating rules for the
administration of this
Section the Department shall assure that a minimum of 1/3 of funds
available for benefits to eligible households with the lowest incomes and that elderly households, households with children under the age of 6 years old, and households with persons with disabilities are offered a priority application
period.

(c) If the applicant is not a customer of record of an energy provider for
energy services or an applicant for such service, such applicant shall
receive a direct energy assistance payment in an amount established by the
Department for all such applicants under this Act; provided, however, that
such an applicant must have rental expenses for housing greater than 30% of
household income.

(c-1) This subsection shall apply only in cases where: (1) the applicant is not a customer of record of an energy provider because energy services are provided by the owner of the unit as a portion of the rent; (2) the applicant resides in housing subsidized or developed with funds provided under the Rental Housing Support Program Act or under a similar locally funded rent subsidy program, or is the voucher holder who resides in a rental unit within the State of Illinois and whose monthly rent is subsidized by the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher Program under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; and (3) the rental expenses for housing are no more than 30% of household income. In such cases, the household may apply for an energy assistance payment under this Act and the owner of the housing unit shall cooperate with the applicant by providing documentation of the energy costs for that unit. Any compensation paid to the energy provider who supplied energy services to the household shall be paid on behalf of the owner of the housing unit providing energy services to the household. The Department shall report annually to the General Assembly on the number of households receiving energy assistance under this subsection and the cost of such assistance. The provisions of this subsection (c-1), other than this sentence, are inoperative after August 31, 2012.

(d) If the applicant is a customer of an energy provider, such
applicant shall receive energy assistance in an amount established by the
Department for all such applicants under this Act, such amount to be paid
by the Department to the energy provider supplying winter energy service to
such applicant.  Such applicant shall:

(i) make all reasonable efforts to apply to any other

appropriate source of public energy assistance; and

(ii) sign a waiver permitting the Department to

receive income information from any public or private agency providing income or energy assistance and from any employer, whether public or private.

(e) Any qualified applicant pursuant to this Section may receive or have
paid on such applicant's behalf an emergency assistance payment to enable
such applicant to obtain access to winter energy services.  Any such
payments shall be made in accordance with regulations of the Department.

(f) The Department may, if sufficient funds are available, provide
additional benefits to certain qualified applicants:

(i) for the reduction of past due amounts owed to

energy providers;

(ii) to assist the household in responding to

excessively high summer temperatures or energy costs. Households containing elderly members, children, a person with a disability, or a person with a medical need for conditioned air shall receive priority for receipt of such benefits; and

(iii) for the installation of energy conservation

  measures, health and safety measures, healthy home measures, home improvement measures to help alleviate deferrals from weatherization activities, and renewable energy retrofits.

(Source: P.A. 101-636, eff. 6-10-20; 102-16, eff. 6-17-21; 102-176, eff. 6-1-22; 102-699, eff. 4-19-22.)

(Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 103-663)