Statewide Iowa — Higher natural gas prices are bringing Iowans higher winter heating bills, as energy companies warned last fall.
Bill Marquess, the program planner for Iowa’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP, says he’s seen about a 20-percent increase in applications from last winter. Thanks to new federal funding, he says they provided an extra boost to participants.
Marquess says the program can help people make ends meet when money is spread thin.
He says they also have financial assistance for crises, like when a furnace needs to be replaced. In October, MidAmerican Energy told customers to expect natural gas bills to rise anywhere from 50 to 100 percent. A MidAmerican spokesperson says customers’ natural gas bills did rise this winter. The average heating bill this past December rose 108 percent.
