"It's unfortunate," he said, noting that most of the cases involved younger families.

According to city code, all occupied properties have to maintain a temperature of 65 degrees, and all have to have a primary source of heat.

Rhoads said UGI and PPL send the code office reports on a regular basis that indicate who's delinquent on heating bills.

He said the code office also relies on complaints from neighbors or landlords for heating violations, but also discovers some in the course of routine inspections.

Programs exist to help, and thousands of people have applied for assistance in Pennsylvania.

"LIHEAP is the main source," Tammy Young, of the Union-Snyder Community Action Agency, said of the statewide Low Income Heating Assistance Program, which is funded by the federal government.

In Pennsylvania, $280 million in additional federal LIHEAP funds, a 29 percent increase over 2007, will allow the state to assist 620,000 households pay heating bills. In addition, the income guidelines have been revised.

Weatherization programs have been swamped by requests and those who qualify for aid can expect to wait months before work can begin.

Pamela Bollinger, an outreach worker in Northumberland County's weatherization program, a state and federally funded effort, said the program helps people in older homes cope with rising heating costs.

"We provide attic and basement insulation, seal gaps, caulk and repair windows and weatherstrip doors," she said. "We check the efficiency of the furnace and refrigerator and can replace them if necessary."

Unfortunately, the program has only three men to handle the actual work. They completed 161 homes in 2008 and are working on applications approved last September.

"It takes time to do a good job," Bollinger said. "We're doing 30-50 each month."

In addition to LIHEAP, many of the utility companies in the region participate in the Dollar Energy Fund. This money comes from utility customers who contribute an extra dollar to their monthly bills, along with funds donated by the utility. Between October 2007 and September 2008, the fund gave $9,555 to 23 customers in Northumberland County and $10,330 to 37 customers in Union County. No requests for assistance were received from Snyder or Montour counties.

PPL Electric Utilities has its own program, which distributed $57,473 to 118 customers in the four-county region, according to Teri MacBride, PPL regional community relations director.

PPL funds a separate weatherization program, administered by local agencies, that provides low-income families with insulation, caulking and basic energy-savings.