Unstable home heating oil prices challenge customers - WWNY

CAPE VINCENT, New York (WWNY) - We’re all paying more for things, but it’s tough to do a household budget when you don’t know how much what you’re buying is going to cost. We’re talking about home heating oil.

Cape Vincent resident Ann Levy heats her home with heating oil. She knows it’s more expensive this year, but what she sometimes doesn’t know is the price she’ll pay until the delivery truck pulls into the driveway.

She doesn’t let her home fuel tank get too low; she tops it off when she can. So far this fall she has spent $1,700 to be ready to stay warm.

According to state data, the average price in the north country for a gallon of heating oil is $5.68. That’s up almost a dollar from last month.

“It’s crazy in a month, one month, so what’s it going to be in December when I call, and the next month when I call,” said Levy.

The state says prices right now in the north country are up 62 percent from what they were last year at this time.

“Who can budget for something like that? You only have so much money to budget, with fuel prices going up, food prices going up. I don’t care how careful you are when you’re budgeting, it doesn’t make any difference - you can’t absorb that kind of increase,” said Levy.

She says sometimes when she wants to get a price quote, she can’t get one. Companies tell her prices can change in a matter of hours. That means Levy finds out what she’s paying when the fuel truck pulls in the driveway.

“The day it was delivered, it was one business day later. They will not honor the price that they quoted me, and when they delivered the fuel oil it was 30 cents a gallon higher,” she said.

Levy says she could heat her home with another type of fuel like natural gas but the investment in a new furnace is just too expensive.

Copyright 2022 WWNY. All rights reserved.

Adblock test (Why?)

from "price" - Google News https://ift.tt/gq3fxYt
via IFTTT