DISABLED SENIOR DENIED HEATING OIL

February 20, 2012
Last Wednesday, I got a call from the oil company announcing that they were going to raise the monthly payment plan from $71 per month to $250. I was dumbfounded. I replied that less than a month ago my account was in good standing. Now I'm being told if I didn't pay $250 a month my account would go into collections and I'd be taken off the even payment plan.
In addition, I could not get any more oil until the whole account was paid off. So I stammered that I had less than 3/8 tank left. I would need more oil in less than a month. Why had this happened? I felt like I could not breathe. I wanted to scream. I tried to tell them about my hands turning white and getting numb when the temperature got below 68 degrees. I told the oil company I am already heating at least half the time with a wood stove. Heating with wood is hard work and physically I could not do it as the only source of heat. The oil company made me feeling like I was somehow irresponsible. Yes I had paid my bill late a few times but I thought I was caught up. Now they gave me only a few days to tell them what I was going to pay. I was waiting to hear about my energy assistance application. By now I was getting angry. I had tried to be very frugal by only ordering a minimum delivery which costs close to $500 for 125 gallons. Fuel oil is more expensive than gasoline. However, the price per gallon has not fluctuated much since last fall. Last year my payment plan was $150 per month. I use about the same amount each year. Each year I have tried to set the thermostat lower and lower. So all of a sudden I am now going to be homeless even though I actually have a home. On top of this I am almost out of wood. Bottom line, low income families can no longer afford to heat their homes with fuel oil. There is a real problem here!