The phones at Rockingham Community Action (RCA) start ringing before the office opens, at 8:30 a.m. They continue to rattle throughout the day, usually until about 4:30 p.m., when the office closes. This time of year, many of those calls come for Sharon Brody, director of the RCA’s Fuel/Electric Assistance Program. As temperatures drop and fuel prices soar, many Seacoast residents are turning to Brody for help.

The RCA is one of six community action centers in New Hampshire that help distribute federal assistance to residents who can’t afford to purchase home heating fuel. The action centers are contracted through the N.H. Office of Energy and Planning. So far this year, New Hampshire has received about $15.5 million in federal funding, with contingency funds in excess of $3 million, according to Celeste Lovette, fuel assistance program manager for the OEP.

Although it seems like an impressive amount of money, more people than ever are applying for assistance, which means less money per person. So far this year, 3,000 households have applied for fuel assistance through Rockingham Community Action—a 7 percent increase over last year. According to Brody, the number of applications has gone up because the price of fuel has dramatically increased.

Last October, the price of home heating oil was $2.38 per gallon, according to the OEP Web site. One year later, on Oct. 9, 2007, the price was up to $2.69 per gallon. Since then, instability abroad and other factors have caused oil prices to go up to $3.23 a gallon, as of Nov. 29. That’s a leap of more than 50 cents in less than two months.

“Compared with other years, that’s a large increase,” said Joseph Broyles, energy program manager for the OEP.  
Unfortunately, as fuel prices have gone up, federal assistance has remained constant. At the end of 2006, New Hampshire had received a total of just under $25 million in federal fuel assistance. With only a month left in 2007, New Hampshire has only received $18,474,583 in federal funding (including contingency funds).

To be fair, more funding will surely come in December, but the fact remains that more people paying higher prices for fuel will be depending on roughly the same amount of money as last year. Unless, that is, the federal government decides to drastically increase funding in the few remaining weeks of 2007. 

Back at the RCA, Brody has enrolled 2,093 applicants into the assistance program, denying 302 applicants because they exceed the income requirements or, in some cases, chose not to continue with their applications.

Eligibility for assistance is determined by where the applicant’s income level falls in the Federal Poverty Guidelines. If the applicant is approved, depending on the number of people in his household and the type of fuel he uses, the RCA office will dole out anywhere from $120 to $975 for the entire winter season. The average benefit is $590 per household. There are no limitations as to what type of fuel people can buy. “The only limitations we have depend on the federal budget,” Brody said. The RCA also accepts private donations.

Brody directs people the RCA can’t help to their communities for assistance. She also suggests going to social agencies like churches or the Salvation Army. Even though these organizations may only be able to help with 50 to 100 gallons of heating fuel, it might be just enough to help people meet their winter heating needs.

Despite the high price of heating fuel, there is still one sure-fire way for people to save money this winter: Use less fuel. The way to do that is by making energy efficiency a priority.

“Our home heating costs are one of the biggest costs we have regarding our budget. Just the simple act of turning the thermostat down has a big impact,” said Denise Blaha, co-founder and co-director of the N.H. Carbon Challenge. “Reducing your thermostat by one degree reduces your fuel costs by two percent. That’s according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.”

Home heating also represents a significant percentage of the average household’s total carbon emissions.
“Typically, in a gallon of home heating oil, there are 22.4 pounds of carbon dioxide released. That’s twice as high as a gallon of propane. That’s why propane and natural gas are better,” Blaha said. “We are the only region in the country that uses oil as much as we do.”
To improve a home’s energy efficiency, Blaha suggests installing a programmable thermostat; making sure all doors, windows and ductwork are properly sealed; and having the furnace serviced on a regular basis. This last tip can save a person up to 10 percent on home heating costs, she said. Also, simple solutions like wearing a sweater can help.

“Really, the biggest thing is turning down your thermostat by four or five degrees,” Blaha said. 

If the aim is to reduce carbon emissions, another idea is to use B5 biofuel, which is a blend of heating oil and fuel derived from soybeans. B5 can be used in any standard oil-fired furnace and reduces a household’s carbon emissions by four percent. 

Blaha admits that improving energy efficiency usually requires an initial investment. But the savings eventually defray the early cost. After making simple improvements to her own home, Blaha was able to save nearly $1,000 on her family’s yearly utility bills, while also reducing her carbon footprint by 30 percent, proving that reducing carbon emissions and saving money often goes hand in hand. “They’re about as closely correlated as they could be,” she said.  

“I recognize that not all of us have hundreds or thousands (of dollars) to spend, but even with a $50 investment, you can reap the benefits,” she added. One cheap option is to seal windows and doors with weather stripping, which can be purchased at most hardware stores. She also suggests washing clothes in cold water, which can save 80 to 90 percent of the total energy required to run a washing machine.

On Nov. 26, Citizens Bank New Hampshire introduced an energy efficiency loan, which offers low- to moderate-income homeowners a reduced interest rate on funds used to weatherize their homes.

“With rising home heating costs, this is a way for customers to make their homes more energy efficient,” said Chris Grenier, assistant vice president of community relations at Citizens Bank New Hampshire.

The loan is for $1,000 to $3,000, at an interest rate of 1 percent, or $3,001 to $10,000 at 3 percent. “This is a significant reduction in the market rate. We’re trying to entice those consumers who know they need to make those improvements to their home, but haven’t had the money in the past,” Grenier said.

The energy efficiency loan is available year-round, but must be paid back within 84 months (seven years). It can be used to add insulation to a home, upgrade a furnace, install better windows and doors, insulate hot water pipes or make other home improvements.

The quest for energy efficiency has taken hold throughout the state, causing a drop in heating oil consumption. “We’ve seen a tremendous drop in the average home. Ten years ago, the average household used 1,600 gallons during peak time. Now, the average consumption has gone down to 800 gallons,” said Bob Garside, president of the Oil Heat Council of New Hampshire, a trade group.   

According to Garside, local suppliers have little control over the price of oil, which is actually determined by oil producing countries and the New York Mercantile Exchange, which buys and sells oil as a commodity.

“Prices can change 10 times a day,” Garside said. The high price of oil is not due to a dwindling supply, like most people believe.” One thing the United States could do to lower prices is build more refineries, considering several of them were destroyed as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, he added.

“We haven’t built a new refinery in 17 years. There is plenty of oil. We need refineries so we can increase production. Right now, we’re at capacity with the existing refineries. There is no real wiggle room to add more barrels,” he said, blaming political infighting for the lack of new refineries. “Between the politics of oil and the mercantile exchange, it’s an uphill battle.”  

Despite the higher prices local suppliers have to pay for wholesale oil, they still make a profit. But, to assist consumers, many suppliers have started offering seasonal contracts with price caps to keep the cost steady.

This winter, temperatures are expected to be slightly above average, according to John Jensenius of the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. “Unfortunately, not much above normal, but it’s certainly better than having it colder than normal,” he said.

Green design is another way people can save on energy costs. Building or retrofitting a home using green design means more savings and less environmental impact. Before December 2006, when Portsmouth Public Library was still located on Middle Street, officials would have given more consideration to the weather as it related to the cost of heating the library. However, the new “green” library is better equipped to handle cold and warm weather.  

The new library on Parrot Avenue uses natural gas, but an energy recovery system allows the building to use its heating fuel more efficiently. The system is able to move air from one part of the building to another, depending on the need. The library can “avoid hot pockets and cold pockets and reuse heat in the building,” said Mary Ann List, director of the library. “We, as everybody else, will be paying more, but we’re not as concerned as we would be in the old library building.”

List expects the new library to be 32.8 percent more efficient than a structure built to standard library code. That translates into savings on energy costs. “Absolutely. That’s certainly one of the big reasons we did it, knowing there would be a payback,” List said.

During construction, the library had an energy model conducted to determine how long the payback would be for each green feature. According to List, each feature had a payback of eight years or fewer.

There are several options for staying warm and saving money this winter. Think of it this way: It’s already December. Spring is right around the corner, and soon we’ll be talking about how to stay cool.