(1) Except as provided in (2), the benefit matrices in (1)(c) and (1)(d) are used to establish the benefit payable to an eligible household for a full heating season. The benefit varies by household income level, type of primary heating fuel, the type of dwelling (single family unit, multi-family unit, mobile home), the number of bedrooms in the dwelling, and the heating districts in which the household is located, to account for climatic differences across the state.

(a) The benefit payable to an eligible household will be computed by multiplying the applicable amount in the table of base benefit levels found in (1)(c) by the applicable matrix amount in the table of income/climatic adjustment multipliers found in (1)(d).

(b) Applicants may claim no more bedrooms than household members except that single elderly and disabled individual households are entitled to claim two bedrooms if their dwelling unit contains more than one bedroom.

(c) The following table of base benefit levels takes into account the number of bedrooms in a house, the type of dwelling structure, and the type of fuel used as a primary source of heating: 

TABLE OF BENEFIT LEVELS

(i) SINGLE FAMILY

# BEDROOMS	NATURAL GAS	ELECTRIC	PROPANE	FUEL OIL	WOOD	COAL
ONE	$ 482	$ 870	$ 1,030	$1,645	$ 707	$ 646
TWO	701	1,265	1,497	2,391	1,029	939
THREE	954	1,724	2,040	3,258	1,401	1,280
FOUR	1,313	2,371	2,806	4,482	1,928	1,761

(ii) MULTI-FAMILY

# BEDROOMS	NATURAL GAS	ELECTRIC	PROPANE	FUEL  OIL	WOOD	COAL
ONE	$ 407	$ 736	$ 871	$1,748	$ 597	$ 546
TWO	614	1,108	1,312	2,633	900	822
THREE	900	1,626	1,925	3,863	1,320	1,206
FOUR	1,052	1,900	2,249	4,513	1,543	1,409

(iii) MOBILE HOME

#  BEDROOMS	NATURAL GAS	ELECTRIC	PROPANE	FUEL OIL	WOOD	COAL
ONE	$ 406	$ 733	$ 868	$1,453	$ 596	$ 544
TWO	594	1,072	1,269	2,124	872	796
THREE	787	1,421	1,682	2,816	1,155	1,055
FOUR	878	1,586	1,877	3,143	1,289	1,178

(d) The following table is based upon the household's income as a percentage of the federal poverty guideline and adjusted for climatic differences in the ten human resource development council service areas in the state of Montana:

TABLE OF INCOME/CLIMATIC ADJUSTMENT MULTIPLIERS

PERCENT OF POVERTY	AEM	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII
0 - 11	1.00	1.08	0.98	0.99	0.93	1.02	1.08	0.90	0.92	1.09
> 11 - 23	0.95	1.02	0.94	0.94	0.89	0.97	1.03	0.86	0.87	1.04
> 23 - 35	0.90	0.97	0.89	0.89	0.84	0.92	0.98	0.81	0.82	0.98
> 35 - 47	0.85	0.92	0.84	0.84	0.79	0.87	0.92	0.77	0.78	0.93
> 47 - 59	0.80	0.86	0.79	0.79	0.75	0.82	0.87	0.72	0.73	0.87
> 59 - 71	0.75	0.81	0.74	0.74	0.70	0.77	0.81	0.68	0.69	0.82
> 71 - 83	0.70	0.75	0.69	0.69	0.65	0.71	0.76	0.63	0.64	0.76
> 83 - 95	0.65	0.70	0.64	0.64	0.61	0.66	0.70	0.59	0.60	0.71
> 95 - 107	0.60	0.65	0.59	0.59	0.56	0.61	0.65	0.54	0.55	0.65
>107 - 119	0.55	0.59	0.54	0.54	0.51	0.56	0.60	0.50	0.50	0.60
>119 - 131	0.50	0.54	0.49	0.49	0.47	0.51	0.54	0.45	0.46	0.55
>131 - 143	0.45	0.48	0.44	0.44	0.42	0.46	0.49	0.41	0.41	0.49
>143 - 150*	0.40	0.43	0.39	0.39	0.37	0.41	0.43	0.36	0.37	0.44

* This category also applies to those whose income exceeds 150% of the poverty guideline and meets the criteria of ARM 37.70.406(1)

(2) Eligible households who are residents of publicly subsidized housing whose energy costs are included as a portion of their rent and whose rent is a fixed portion of their income will receive one payment of $50 for the entire five-year period from the date of application and are not eligible for low income energy assistance benefits provided for in (1).