The ban that prevents utilities from turning off services to those behind on their bills ends Tuesday (April 1st). The ban only covers those who are signed up for Iowa’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Iowa Utilities Board spokesman, Rob Hillesland, says those not in LIHEAP may also be behind on their bills and the best thing to do is to work out a payment agreement.
The record cold this winter has pushed heating bills up for everyone and led to a record amount of unpaid bills. Hillesland says regulators and the utility companies are trying to help Iowans deal with the bigger bills.
He says the utility companies across the state would rather work something out than pull the plug.
Hillesland says the state can help if you feel you can’t come to an agreement with your utility.
The board report showed that there were just over 243-thousand households in Iowa who had a past-due balance on their utility accounts at the end of February. Those households owed a record of just over 46-million dollars.
