Application process starting for winter low income home energy assistance program

MASON CITY — As temperatures start to drop off after a warm start to the week, north-central Iowa electric and natural gas customers who may be struggling to pay utility bills or make payment arrangements with their provider have an opportunity to get some help before the winter season begins.

Amy Rice with the North Iowa Community Action Organization says the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, commonly known as LIHEAP, is a federally funded program designed to assist low-income households with a payment to cover a portion of their residential heating costs for the winter season.  “Households should apply if they are eligible because we can send a one-time payment to their utility vendor for the heating season. Both owners and renter-occupied households are eligible to apply for LIHEAP or energy assistance. Households with the income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level would be eligible to apply, so for instance if you have a household of four, you would not want to make more than $62,400.”

Rice says it’s easy to apply for LIHEAP and she reminds us of the documentation you’ll need to provide. “We do have an intake form here, a two-page intake form for the household to fill out. It usually takes right around 15 minutes, and they can have a decision by the time they leave as long as we have all the required documentation. With this year, we do have a new database, so all households need to provide new verification, and that’s going to be income verification, vendor verification, and Social Security Number verification.”

The North Iowa Community Action Organization’s service area includes Cerro Gordo, Butler, Floyd, Franklin, Hancock, Mitchell, Kossuth, Winnebago  and Worth counties.

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