Requests For Low Income Heating Assistance Increase

(Des Moines, IA) — 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. Bill Marquess  says higher natural gas prices, along with colder temperatures, have hit those already struggling and facing financial hardships. He says new federal funding has allowed them to issue supplemental payments of 40 percent of what the first payment was. He says they also have financial assistance for crises, like when a furnace needs to be replaced.