Going Up - and Up - Harsh winter helps push the price of heating oil to a record for state

www.journalnow.com Thu, February 27, 2003 By Michael Biesecker JOURNAL REPORTER

Whenever weather forecasters call for ice and snow, Randy Hayes knows to expect a busy day.

A delivery driver for Quality Oil Co., Hayes crisscrossed southern Winston-Salem yesterday, topping off tanks with home heating oil.

"We're just like the grocery store," he said, his breath expelling a cloud into the falling sleet. "Whenever there's going to be bad weather, we get a lot of business."

As with other petroleum products, the price of heating oil has risen dramatically in recent months. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, yesterday's average price in North Carolina was $1.52 a gallon - a 49 percent jump from a year ago and a new high for the state.

The increased cost for oil has strained household budgets, especially for those living on fixed incomes.

"I just get Social Security," said Betty Robbins, who had her tank filled by Hayes yesterday. "I've spent a lot more on oil this winter because of the storms, and the price just keeps going up."

Officials said that the increase is the result of higher demand for fuel oil during the unusually harsh winter, a prolonged strike in Venezuela and uncertainty about war in Iraq.

"Heating-oil prices are tied directly to the crude-oil market," said John Cogan, a spokesman for the Energy Information Association, the statistical arm of the federal Energy Department. "This year, those three factors have conspired to push crude prices upward."

The high cost of oil has drained the resources of agencies that help those who otherwise wouldn't be able to pay their heating bills.

"We're helping as many people as we can," said Jim Campbell, the emergency-assistance coordinator for the Forsyth County Department of Social Services. "We're getting about twice as many calls as last year."

Campbell said that during a cold week, his office has been processing about 120 applications for heating assistance each day. Because of increased fuel costs, the department can only afford to pay for about 100 gallons of heating oil or kerosene for each family - roughly a one-month supply.

The county receives $400,000 a year in federal crisis-intervention money to help poor, elderly and handicapped people with home-heating and cooling bills. Campbell said that the program will probably run out of money before spring, leaving nothing to help with energy costs this summer.

"If you have to choose between heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, heat is going to win," he said.

• Michael Biesecker can be reached at 727-7338 or at mbiesecker@wsjournal.com

• People who need help paying heating bills can call the Forsyth County Department of Social Services at 727-2060.