As the price of oil heads to $60 per barrel and gasoline sits below $3 per gallon, many consumers may assume that energy price worries have been assuaged, according to Merilynn Bourne, executive director of Listen Community Services, an Upper Valley nonprofit group. But with temperatures dropping into the 20s as winter approaches, Upper Valley residents face the challenge of staying warm, Bourne said.
"People are making choices of paying their electricity bills or heating their homes," Bourne said. "Seniors are having to choose to fill prescriptions. It becomes a very delicate balancing act."
Heating fuels such as No. 2 heating oil, propane and kerosene cost $1 to $1.50 more per gallon than they did last year, according to Bourne. Two hundred and fifty percent more households have asked Listen for help this year, and the group has given 425 percent more in donations compared to this time last year. One-half of these households are seeking aid for the first time, according to Bourne.
"Unless fuel comes down, there's going to be some real problems," she said.
Listen and other Upper Valley groups recently joined together to form the Winter Assistance Resource Management Fund, a coalition that spreads information about keeping warm and helps people weatherize their homes, Bourne said. The WARM Fund also encourages people to check on their neighbors this winter, especially the elderly and disabled. The Upper Valley United Way has raised more than $40,000 thus far for the WARM fund, and hopes to raise $200,000, she added.
The high energy prices are causing some anxiety for the Hanover, as town officials must take into consideration the effect of fuel prices on operating costs, according to town manager Julia Griffin. The current prices will not greatly impact Hanover, she said, although the town is preparing for the worst.
"We were really concerned about a month ago," Griffin said. "Now that prices are coming down, we're feeling a little better, but we know it could change at a moment's time."
Between 1989 and 1992, New Hampshire residents faced similar financial challenges, Griffin said. Some people stopped paying property taxes to pay for electricity or heat, even though interest rates on missed property taxes are a minimum of 12 percent.
"When you need cash, you don't think about tomorrow," Griffin said. "You grab what you can today."
Hanover residents generally seek aid from the town when the state's fuel assistance runs out in January or February, Griffin said. She explained that the town gives people in need fuel vouchers with funding from Hanover's welfare budget.
Upper Valley residents interviewed by The Dartmouth said that the higher prices they are paying for heating fuel has not affected their spending on other goods. Harry Beskind, a retired doctor who lives in Hanover, said that he is being cautious with his fuel use and is setting the thermostat lower this year.
He added that he is wary of fluctuations in gas prices.
While the drop in gas prices brings relief to many consumers, Beskind said, there are long-term problems with lower costs -- people will continue to purchase gas if it is cheap, and issues like climate change and the lack of fuel-efficient cars will not be addressed.
"It'll be unfortunate if the price drops too low," Beskind said. "There seems to be no political will to set the price at a point where people would drive less."
Bourne also expressed frustration with the apparent fixation by the government and media on gasoline prices and not on other fuel costs. People can limit their use of gasoline, she said, but need heating fuels to survive.
"We can control where and when we drive," Bourne said. "We cannot control the weather. We need to be talking about the winter."
The weatherizing ideas promoted by the WARM Fund, such as placing shrink wrap over non-weatherproof windows, are short-term solutions, according to Bourne. The government should increase weatherizing funding and offer loans to people to weatherize their homes, Bourne added.
"They're bailing out Wall Street, but they're not bailing out anyone else," she said.
Weatherizing is an expensive process that many cannot afford, according to Bourne. For example, weatherproof windows can cost $200 to buy and install. If governments provided more aid to weatherize homes, people would save money long term and also cut consumption, Bourne said.
"We need to get through the moment, but we need to think about the next 10 years," she said.
Bourne advised New Hampshire Senator John Sununu, the Republican candidate in the upcoming Senatorial election, that the government should provide aid for low-income families to weatherize their homes, Bourne said, but Sununu's unenthusiastic response convinced her not to vote for him on Nov. 4, she said.
