Combatting high oil prices

But what can residents do - especially those on fixed incomes?
John Sorenson, manager of Laco Oil in Valley Stream, said he urges his customers to upgrade their oil burners and boilers, which, he said, can reduce their oil consumption as much as 40 percent. Though upgrading an oil burner can cost upward of $4,000, Sorenson said, 60 percent of his customers have done it. "It's a double-edged sword for us," he said. "We're selling fewer gallons, but it keeps our customers happy."
In September alone, Sorenson said, heating oil rose 50 cents, to $3.29 per gallon. He is shocked by the instability of prices, he said, which fall several cents one day only to rise the next. "The volatility is outrageous," Sorenson said. "What it's doing to our customers is horrible."
Members of the West Hempstead Civic Association can combat these problems by participating in Tragar Oil's Discount Fuel Oil Program. Tragar Oil, a Wantagh-based green energy company and a full-service oil dealer, is currently offering a discounted one-year service contract that can save WHCA members 20 percent on their heating oil. Participants also receive 10 free trees and a delivery of a 5 percent soybean heating oil blend, among other benefits.
"With this program, we're able to help out the WHCA by encouraging residents to become members of the association," explained Dennis Traina Jr., Tragar's vice president. "It's a great program because members can save a fair value." Traina added that similar discount programs are offered to members of the South Merrick, East Meadow and North Bellmore civic associations.
Rosalie Norton, president of the WHCA, said the announcement of the Tragar program was made in the association's fall newsletter. "We don't have the manpower to check around with every oil company that exists in our area," Norton said. "But this program gives members of the association a starting point, and they can even compare Tragar's prices to the other companies if they choose to."
West Hempstead residents have found other ways to fight rising oil prices. Norton explained that she makes a mental driving list in order to use less gas. "I try to consolidate trips and configure the quickest route when I go out," she said. "It's difficult because oil prices are rising ... but you have to be smart and find ways to lessen the burden."
Longtime West Hempstead resident Seth Bykofsky had similar sentiments, saying that he is dealing with the rising prices the best way he can. "I'm struggling like everyone else to muddle through," he said. Bykofsky contends, however, that government officials should formulate a more efficient energy policy that will "free" consumers from their "dependency upon fossil fuel and foreign potentates."
Tragar Oil is also a part of the Nassau County Senior Citizens Affairs Department's Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps seniors pay their oil heating bills. Sharon Mullen, the department's commissioner, explained that seniors are eligible for the program if they have a maximum monthly income of $1,876, or $2,455 if two seniors contribute to it. The maximum HEAP benefit, Mullen said, is $540.
The department also offers a Weatherization Referral and Packing Program, or WRAP, which helps low-income seniors make boilers, windows and doors more energy-efficient, as well as a program called SAFE, for seniors who struggle with high heating bills but are not eligible for HEAP or WRAP. "We try to hold on to the SAFE funds for those who have no other solution," Mullen said.
The Long Island Power Authority, meanwhile, offers Project Warmth, which began on Dec. 1. It pays a one-time annual benefit of $300 for fuel or $125 for fuel-related costs.
For residents other than seniors who have difficulty paying their heating bills, the New York Public Interest Research Group allows its individual members to buy oil as part of a group, and reduce its cost. NYPIRG assigns each group an oil dealer in their region, and the dealer provides the group with oil at a discounted price. According to Joe Roy, the Long Island coordinator of the oil buyers groups, there are three oil dealers in the region with three different programs: One offers a cap on oil prices, while the other two offer "price protection" for their customers.
Comments about this story? DWilliams@ liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.