During the cold winter months the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, helps Iowans stay warm despite high heating bills. Washington County is one of eight served by HACAP. Supervisor Richard Young said nearly $200,000 has been spent so far this year to help local families, “Just go give you an idea, year to date on just the LIHEAP program, it has been 453 households served for a total of $189,809.36. That’s an average of $419.05 per household that they helped with their heating and electric bills.” In February, 31 households were served for $5,440 in Washington County. The average temperature for the month of February in Washington was 19 degrees, nearly six degrees below normal. The winter moratorium law that prohibits natural gas or electricity being shut off for those who qualify for LIHEAP ends each year on April 1st.