Fuel oil customers brace for winter - Major price increases revealed in new budget purchase plans

MILFORD — For many residents in Pike County, summer can’t last long enough. Fuel oil customers now entering into new contracts are already feeling the pain of having to adjust the thermostat upon the arrival of the winter season, with new energy rates coming close to doubling those of last year. Mary Ann Jagger of Dingmans Ferry, a 66 year-old woman living on a single income through her part-time job, is dreading that inevitability. Jagger was on a budget plan that capped her fuel oil price at $2.899/gallon since last July. Since then, she had five fill-ups for a total of 869 gallons, just about the average for a homeowner. The $2,500 she spent heating her home last year will now be something she remembers with fondness. Starting this season, fuel oil prices will increase some 76 percent, leaving Jagger paying $5.099/gallon at the current cap offered by Bottini Fuel. As a result, her projected costs will increase by over $1,900. Through necessity, she said, oil bills are put on a credit card and financed over twelve months. The same is the case with her other main expense: three inhalers purchased every three months. “I may not be able to continue buying these medications if I can’t afford them. The choice for me is between my medication and my heat, and heat wins,” she said. Jagger said she hopes it won’t get to that point and is taking various cost-cutting measures, including ordering one last fill-up with the current rate. She makes all of her errands in one trip, trying to save a few dollars on gas. And at the supermarket, it is necessities only, she said. “I should be retired, enjoying my life. But now I am working harder than I did when I was younger, just for a place to live and money to pay my bills, nothing extra.” Jagger is frustrated with her company for not absorbing some of the rising costs. Bottini Fuel did not return repeated requests for comment. Walter Prigge of Shohola is also feeling the squeeze. He said he is trying to save on fuel oil costs by adding electric radiators in a few rooms in his house, hoping to conserve the amount of fuel oil he will consume. Prigge’s company, Advantage Oil, is not holding back on telling their customers the truth. Owner Jerry McAveney acknowledges that right now there are cheaper alternatives, such as wood and coal. Asked if many of his customers are converting, he said, “yes, many are jumping ship to wood stoves, and I encourage it. They got to survive. The only way prices are going to come down is when people start using less, just like gas in the ‘70s.” Jim Morrision of Dingmans Ferry did exactly that, and is now breathing a relative sigh of relief. He installed coal and firewood stoves in his home two years ago. “I’m feeling like a genius right now,” he said. McAveney was selling fuel oil at $2.49/gallon last year. Now, the least his customers can expect for the short-term is $4.25/gallon. He is also finding his company making deliveries in much smaller quantities because his customers simply cannot afford what they used to in the past. While he extends much compassion to his customers, McAveney does not hold back against what he calls “the useless Congress.” A frequent caller to his Congressman’s office, he says that the root of the problem lies with commodity speculation. McAveney says that stricter regulation is needed because he estimates that about 60 percent of the price of a barrel of oil is pure inflation because of speculators. However, McAveney is convinced that political games in Washington are standing in the way of such reform. “It’s time to clear house,” he said. For his company, a margin of $0.33 per gallon is needed to just break even. During prices surges, such as the one over Labor Day Weekend, McAveney said that he could not even pay the cost of diesel going into his trucks to make the deliveries. So while fuel prices are declining slightly recently, he said he is very wary about chasing his own prices down at the same rate. A sales representative from a local oil company commented that, “the best thing to do is turn down the heat by a few degrees and put on a sweater” - some candid advice for those customers whose tanks and wallets will be a lot lighter this winter. If you need help Government programs for senior citizens and others who qualify for aid with heating costs are available through the county’s human development office, which can be reached at 570 296-3434.