Rhode Island Home Heating Oil Reaches $6.30 a Gallon on October 29, Nearly Double Last Year's $3.68, Raising Winter Assistance Concerns
Home heating oil prices in Rhode Island rose this week to an average of $6.30 per gallon, far above last year's $3.68 at the same time; as temperatures fall, many families face difficulty affording basic winter expenses, raising concerns about whether assistance programs will be enough. U.S. Senator Jack Reed said: "If you can't heat your home in the winter or cool it in the summer, you really can't live in that home."
Reed helped secure more than $23 million for Rhode Island's Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps eligible households pay heating bills; last year more than 27,000 residents statewide received assistance, many of them seniors living on fixed incomes. Joseph DeSantis, president of Tri-County Community Action, said that with heating oil prices spiking recently, the funds "may not be enough." Reed said he is working to secure additional funding to meet growing demand.
Eligible households must have incomes at or below 60 percent of the state median income, a threshold of $83,481 for a family of four. Federal officials also announced plans to release up to 315,000 barrels of oil from the Northeast reserve. Persistently high heating oil prices have made this winter's energy assistance gap in Rhode Island a focus of attention.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 联邦参议员杰克·里德官方肖像 / Official portrait of U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island. Photo: Rebecca Hammel, U.S. Senate Photographic Studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
