Over 300 Washington County residents utilized the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) program this winter. 

Renella Crawford with the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP), who runs General Assistance for the county, gave her quarterly report to the Washington County Supervisors Tuesday. Crawford touched on how many residents utilized LIHEAP this winter, “From October 1 to May 4th, LIHEAP, the energy assistance program for Washington County, served 365 households with $165,560. That’s an average of $453 per household. For crisis assistance, we served 27 households. The ECIP (Energy Crisis Intervention Payments) funds served 19 households for $20,497.34. Those are state funds, the ECIP funds.” 

The LIHEAP program assists thousands of Iowans with a portion of their heating bills every year. LIHEAP-qualified customers are also protected from utility service disconnection from November 1 through April 1 annually. 

Iowa’s annual winter moratorium regarding utility service disconnection ended April 1.