By ANTHONY BOTTAN
With the price of crude oil flirting with $100 a barrel, the cost of gas continues to rise. But what can residents do - especially those on fixed incomes?
John Lorenson, 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, Lorenson 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, Lorenson 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," Lorenson said. "What it's doing to our customers is horrible. Many people on fixed incomes are taking their meager savings and transferring it to Exxon Mobil and the United Arab Emirates."
Naza Hummel, who has lived in Lynbrook for 64 years, switched to natural gas to heat her home, but has her own way of cutting down on heating costs. "I wear a lot of sweaters in the house," Hummel said. "I use a lot of quilts when I'm watching TV." She added that even with higher heating costs, she has maintained her standard of living, though she admits she walks more often because of rising gas prices.
Walking more is what Sheldon Feinman, 81, also a Lynbrook resident, is doing to reduce his gas consumption. He said he has cut back tremendously on his car use, but doesn't mind the healthy alternative to driving. "I have no problem walking," Feinman said. "Walking is good for you."
The Nassau County Senior Citizens Affairs Department offers seniors the Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps them 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.
Gabe Parrish, who has lived in Valley Stream for 53 years and lives on a fixed income, said he has had to lower his standard of living because of high oil prices. "My quality of life is not what it was," Parrish said.
Instead of driving, Parrish said, he walks more often. "I have reduced my entertainment expenses, like going to the movies or restaurants," he said. "I even had to cut down on food expenses." Though Parrish has cut his costs, his savings, he said, have been reduced drastically.
And for seniors like Blanche Tiedeman who do not have any savings to fall back on, high oil prices, combined with ever-increasing property taxes, have a severe impact. "I had to sell my house," Tiedeman said.
She now lives in the Monica Village senior homes. After her husband died and left her without a pension or savings and a $40,000 mortgage, Tiedeman struggled. "I couldn't give Christmas presents or travel," she said. She wanted to stay on Long Island, where her family and grandchildren live.
The Senior Citizens Affairs Department also offers a Weatherization Referral and Packaging Program, or WRAP, which helps low-income seniors make boilers, windows and doors more energy-efficient, as well as the Senior Assistance for Fuel Emergencies program, or 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.
East Rockaway resident Cathy Mott said that her habits, too, have changed, even on short errands. "Whenever I need to go somewhere," Mott explained, "I stop to think what else I can do on the way so that I can accomplish several things in one trip and on the same amount of gas." She said the only bright spot is that high gas prices are forcing people to do something we should have been doing all along - conserve. "Unfortunately, this is little consolation to those people who depend on their cars for work and are already suffering financial hardships," she said.
The Long Island Power Authority, meanwhile, offers Project Warmth, a program that starts Dec. 1 and 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 dealer offers a cap on oil prices, while the other two offer "price protection" for their customers.
Mary Malloy contributed to this story. Comments about it? MMalloy@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
