Iowans may face an expensive heating season ahead, as a report projects energy costs will rise an average of a little over eight percent this winter.
Lorri Ferris leads the Iowa Community Action Association, which is made up of agencies across the state that oversee the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP.
Ferris anticipates more requests for the federal supplemental aid this winter because of inflation and projected energy costs.
She says, “The families that use this resource, often it’s older Iowans on fixed incomes, it’s families who have disabilities, families with children, and most of the families are working.”
First round applications for certain households start next month and go through April. Ferris says this year’s LIHEAP funding still hasn’t been finalized.
“We would like to see an increase,” Ferris says. “The reality is that with these rising costs, those dollars don’t go as far.”
The report on energy costs is being released by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. The study says the eight-percent estimate in heating costs would be even higher without the warmer temperatures projected under the El Niño weather pattern.
(By Meghan McKinney, Iowa Public Radio)