USF helps make natural gas and electricity more affordable for low-income households by lowering these bills, in the form of a credit that appears on the bill itself. USF application period is year-round.LIHEAP helps low-income individuals and families meet home heating and medically-necessary cooling costs with a monetary benefit that varies by applicant income, household size, fuel type, and heating region. LIHEAP application period is October 1 to June 30 (subject to change).The heating benefit is typically provided as a two-party check in the name of the applicant and the fuel supplier, when the household is responsible to the fuel supplier for payment. The benefit is instead provided as a single-party check in the name of the benefit recipient when heat is included in rent. Heating benefit recipients may have their benefits directly forwarded to their utility company. The medically-necessary cooling assistance benefit is $200, and is applied as a direct credit to an active electric account, or issued as one-party checks.