Officials anticipate heat price spike
By Scott Stafford, Berkshire Eagle Staff

With the cost of heating homes in the Northeast expected to be the highest in history during the coming winter, federal, state and local officials are planning now for the anticipated increase in those seeking help to heat their homes.

In Washington yesterday, Sen. John F. Kerry introduced legislation he authored - the Emergency Energy Assistance Act of 2008 - that would double federal funding of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to $5.1 billion, increase the maximum level of the earned income tax credit by $300, and increase the Weatherization Assistance Program by $522.8 million, to a total of $750 million.

President Bush's proposal would cut LIHEAP funding by 22 percent from last winter's levels, and eliminate funding for the weatherization program that helps people winterize their homes.

"We're not going to let him do that," Kerry said. "People are already hard-hit by gas prices, by tuitions, increases in health care costs, and wages aren't going up. So people are really getting squeezed. So we're trying to not only grow the LIHEAP funding itself, but we want to put additional money in for weatherization assistance as well as the earned income tax credit so people can make ends meet here. We have to help them, we have to get ahead of the curve."

The political battle that could have a direct impact on thousands of Berkshire County residents. Last year, according to Donald Atwater, executive director of the Berkshire Community Action Council, roughly 7,000 families received LIHEAP aid to heat their homes. Another 1,500 families applied for the aid but didn't qualify.

According to a forecast for the cost of heating provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the prices for heating oil during the coming winter will jump nearly 41 percent over last winter and the cost of natural gas by nearly 34 percent. The cost of propane and electricity will increase by 22 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

"We think heating prices will be higher than we've ever seen," said Neil Gamson, an economist with the EIA. "We could hope for a warm winter, but it's not just the price, it's the (worldwide) consumption. We're going to see spending on heating that will be pretty high compared to last year."

With these kinds of increases, relief administrators are expecting more people seeking aid and people in higher income brackets to start feeling the pain - and the cold - more than they have before.

"That will be a faster growing population I think than the low income," Atwater said. "But unfortunately, no matter how much money we throw at it this winter, if heating oil stays at $4.50 to $5 a gallon, we're still going to have some issues."

The high cost of heat will cause some families to cut down on food, medication or health care. It could also result in riskier heating practices, like using the oven to heat the house, overuse of space heaters in cramped quarters, or people staying with relatives and turning off their heaters, which could lead to burst pipes and flooded homes.

Atwater said he will be seeking help from local oil distributors and banks. He will also be asking churches and schools to provide space for families that may be forced to leave their homes because of a lack of heat.

"We have to have something in place to deal with this," Atwater said.

"We have to get ahead of the curve," Kerry agreed. "In the northeast, we are the hardest hit: We are at the end of the pipeline, we have the cold winters and hot summers. It's very tough on our citizens. That's why I'm trying to make certain we do things necessary ahead of time in order to help people."

The legislation is co-sponsored by senators Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Kerry said he expects opposition to the funding to come from across the aisle and from the halls of the White House.

"We're trying to get the administration to pay attention to this," he said. "Some of the Republicans are also against it, but we have the support of some Republicans. I hope we're going to be able to get it through. We'll have to fight for it."