Heating Oil

The "crisis season" began Nov. 15 and runs through the end of March, but those who need help from the Maryland Energy Assistance Program to stay warm this winter will be waiting longer and receiving less. "Please note that due to decreased funding, your benefit will be less," the Office of Home Energy Programs advises on its website. The reduction and holdup in funding is a result of the federal government's lack of a budget, said Dave Jordan, executive director of the Washington County Community Action Council.

A Falling Waters, W.Va., company will provide heating oil for Washington County buildings this winter, the Washington County Commissioners decided Tuesday. The commissioners voted unanimously to award the contract to the low bidder, Southern States, in a piggyback purchase with the Washington County Board of Education. Southern States will charge 8.25 cents per gallon above the base oil price, which beat out next-lowest bidder AC&T Co. Inc. of Hagerstown by 32 cents, according to county purchasing agent Karen R. Luther.

The Washington County Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to accept a bid of about $803,000 for heating oil from AC&T - the only bid the board received. The bid includes the purchase and delivery of heating oil to school sites and the central office. The bid package provides a fixed price for 75 percent of the expected heating oil consumption and a spot price for 25 percent of the expected consumption.

andrews@herald-mail.com Heating oil usage in the Northeast this winter is projected to drop slightly from last winter, but prices are expected to jump, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted that heating oil consumption in the region, on average, will drop by 0.3 percent, while prices will go up 28.8 percent. Steffey & Findlay of Hagerstown was charging $1.40 per gallon for oil at the same time last year, President Phil Adams said.

HAGERSTOWN - The price of heating oil being used in Washington County's public schools has spiked this winter, and officials say they will monitor and manage the purchase of fuel oil to minimize the impact. Dale Diller, energy management analyst for Washington County Public Schools, says the school system recently received its first delivery of heating oil that will be used this winter. That load was 43 percent more expensive than last year's average cost, he said. Last year's price was $1.63 per gallon, he said.

Flames destroyed a home in a mobile home park north of Hagerstown late Saturday after kerosene ignited in a furnace designed to use heating oil, fire officials said. No one was home at the time. The mobile home at 18602 Carolyn St. was a "total loss," Maugansville Goodwill Volunteer Fire Co. Capt. Chuck Burleson said Sunday. Crews were dispatched to the scene at 11:34 p.m. Saturday and cleared the scene at 1:39 a.m. Sunday, a Washington County Emergency Services dispatcher said Sunday.

Betty Wurster was horrified the week before last when she got her latest bill from Columbia Gas of Maryland. Her new budget payment for natural gas had jumped to $169 per month -- a 44 percent increase over what she had been paying at her half-a-double house for the past year. "I think it's outrageous because I've never had that much of an increase," the Hagerstown resident said. "I mean, what's to prevent them from doing it 75 percent?" Wurster is not alone. The phones at Columbia Gas have been ringing a lot this month since the utility, grappling with rising prices and predictions of supply-disrupting hurricanes, began notifying its budget plan customers of the increase, spokeswoman Leslie Orbin said last week.

TRI-STATE - Betty Wurster was horrified the week before last when she got her latest bill from Columbia Gas of Maryland. Her new budget payment for natural gas had jumped to $169 per month - a 44 percent increase over what she had been paying at her half-a-double house for the past year. "I think it's outrageous because I've never had that much of an increase," the Hagerstown resident said. "I mean, what's to prevent them from doing it 75 percent?" Wurster is not alone.

Home fuel prices on rise By ANDREW SCHOTZ / Staff Writer Home heating oil prices will increase by about 30 percent this winter, according to federal energy projections released Wednesday. continued Oil will likely cost, on average, $1.31 per gallon, or about 30 cents more than during the same period last year, according to the Energy Information Administration. Consumers also can expect to pay 25 percent to 30 percent more for natural gas. "Higher crude oil prices push the prices of all (petroleum)

Pennsylvania State Police said about 200 gallons of heating fuel was removed over the weekend from the Waterfall Grange Hall in Fulton County. The fuel is believed to have been taken between Friday and Sunday at the Grange Hall at 1035 Waterfall Road in Taylor Township, according to a state police news release.

The "crisis season" began Nov. 15 and runs through the end of March, but those who need help from the Maryland Energy Assistance Program to stay warm this winter will be waiting longer and receiving less. "Please note that due to decreased funding, your benefit will be less," the Office of Home Energy Programs advises on its website. The reduction and holdup in funding is a result of the federal government's lack of a budget, said Dave Jordan, executive director of the Washington County Community Action Council.

“I was reading in Thursday's paper, I have to agree with the Middletown, Md., person who called in. It is a waste of time and taxpayers' money for emissions, because there's so much green gases and stuff these days that what they're doing in Maryland with emission testing is just a waste of taxpayers' money. They should just abolish it and be done with it.” - Williamsport “These people who complain about getting their mail late in the day, this is your problem, not the mail system.

"Republican governor in Virginia and New Jersey, that's the start of our new beginning. Let's keep it going. It's the very beginning. Our country is on the threshold of coming out of its deep darkness that you-know-who has put us in. " - Sharpsburg "I had to recently visit a food bank today, and I was very appalled when I saw three little children coming to the food bank for lunch, with no parent supervision, and then see the children...

Gifts of Christmas are appreciated To the editor: Dear donors to "Make a Better Christmas:" I would like to sincerely thank all donors for their generosity to the "Make a Better Christmas" coordinated by Bob Maginnis. My son and I, as well as the other fortunate recipients, truly appreciate your thoughtfulness. My family, and especially a family member, has had an especially trying year, both emotionally and financially. The good news is that my family member's health is stable and is steadily working on reducing the incredibly large copay from the doctor bills, as well as two ambulance rides.

TRI-STATE - Betty Wurster was horrified the week before last when she got her latest bill from Columbia Gas of Maryland. Her new budget payment for natural gas had jumped to $169 per month - a 44 percent increase over what she had been paying at her half-a-double house for the past year. "I think it's outrageous because I've never had that much of an increase," the Hagerstown resident said. "I mean, what's to prevent them from doing it 75 percent?" Wurster is not alone.

Betty Wurster was horrified the week before last when she got her latest bill from Columbia Gas of Maryland. Her new budget payment for natural gas had jumped to $169 per month -- a 44 percent increase over what she had been paying at her half-a-double house for the past year. "I think it's outrageous because I've never had that much of an increase," the Hagerstown resident said. "I mean, what's to prevent them from doing it 75 percent?" Wurster is not alone. The phones at Columbia Gas have been ringing a lot this month since the utility, grappling with rising prices and predictions of supply-disrupting hurricanes, began notifying its budget plan customers of the increase, spokeswoman Leslie Orbin said last week.

Last week's question: An American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit revealed that a unit of the Maryland State Police spent 14 months in 2005 and 2006 doing surveillance on people who opposed the death penalty and the Iraq war. Is there any good reason for this? o People who get passionate about causes sometimes get violent. - 7 votes (6 percent) o You never know who's doing something wrong unless you watch them for a while. - 9 votes (8 percent) o No, it violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantee that the people may peacefully protest government activities.

Staff members at Washington County's Commission on Aging knew there was a problem when the oil companies started calling them. Even though it's the middle of a hot summer, COA officials said oil company representatives told them their firms are getting a lot of calls from senior citizens who fear what's going to happen to the price of heating oil. Both The Boston Globe and The Wall Street Journal are predicting $5-a-gallon heating oil for...

To the editor: I would like to add a postscript to the Bill Stryker Jr.'s excellent article - "The oil is there, if we'd only drill" - that appeared Sunday, June 22. Stryker makes an excellent case for more oil production by the U.S., but there are still many more reasons. There are many more products that are petroleum-based than just gasoline. Also, when is our Congress ever going to become educated to all of these facts that will affect our total economy? Here's a list of many items that we use every day in which petroleum products are used in the manufacturing process.