Heating costs magnify winter's burden

High fuel costs and cold temperatures are combining to make the winter of 2007-2008 a particularly hard one for both young and old in Maine.

Anna Baskerville of Eastport is one of the many elderly Washington County residents having a hard time coping with the freezing temperatures this winter. Since 1999, when she moved up from her Pennsylvania townhouse to be with family in Eastport, the 76-year-old woman has lived in a Cape Cod house on Water Street. These days, visitors will immediately notice that heavy curtains have been hung in the doorways to keep heat from escaping from her front dining room, where a small wood-burning stove and small electric heater provide the home's warmth.

"You come in here, and it feels like a different world," says Baskerville of that room. "But I've never had to box myself in before. It's been cold, but this is the worst year, by far. My body can't take the cold like a younger person can."

The four upstairs rooms have been blocked off with plastic to save on heat loss, and Baskerville sleeps in the other front room downstairs. Although her bedroom has a fireplace, very little heat is given off. Because there is no heat in the small bathroom, Baskerville says, "I have to scoot in to wash."

There is a large wood-burning stove in the kitchen, but both wood-burning stoves use the same chimney, so only one can be in service. Baskerville uses an electric stove for warmth in the kitchen, but without much success. It got so cold one day this winter that a pile of cookie dough froze when Baskerville left it out in a bowl.

"I've had no oil since November, and LIHEAP [the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program] gave me money for that," reports Baskerville. Her family and friends have been providing her with food and kindling for her stove.

"True friends are true friends," she says of all of the people who have been helping her through the winter. "I never thought the time would come when I couldn't pay for oil."

Retiree Doris Munson, 67, of Lubec can't say enough good things about the Washington-Hancock Community Agency and its fuel assistance program for lower income households. She and her husband Reginald, 69, live in a large 100-year-old home with son Harry, 45, and the couple receives a total of $1,093 from Social Security.

"If it weren't for WHCA, LIHEAP and its energy fuel assistance program, I don't know what we'd do," stresses Doris, noting that WHCA replaced the Munsons' 20-year-old furnace with a new one. "We burn 50 gallons of propane a week."

"Every month I buy what I can afford with my check. Then I have to call to see what's out there," says Doris, not willing to divulge her sources. "If they want to know, they can do the same as I did."

"I've paid the light bill and phone bill this month, but to survive, we can't afford to pay the sewer bill and taxes."

To save on heat in their seven-room house, the Munsons have shut off the four rooms upstairs. The living room is being used as a bedroom for Doris and Reginald, and Harry sleeps in the dining room.

"I sent my son off to the town office for general assistance, and we got 25 gallons [of fuel]. Big deal," reports Doris. "We're going to have to ask for help again. I don't know how people cope."

Two other retirees, 66-year-old Judy Jones of Trescott and her husband Lewis, 73, get less than $900 a month together from Social Security, and they have received heating assistance from the WHCA. They have also benefitted from the Citizens Energy/Citgo Oil Heat Program, begun by Joseph Kennedy III, who teamed up with the oil-producing country of Venezuala. "It was the first time I applied for the Joe Kennedy one, and we got 100 gallons. Three dollars and seventy-seven cents a gallon doesn't go very far, so it was very, very appreciated."

"It's too bad, isn't it, when we have to rely on Venezuelan oil instead of our government," she quips.

"We have a small place. It's one story and six rooms and a bath," says Judy. "We have a monitor heater that used number one kerosene, and it actually heats the house well. We have a furnace, but we've only run it once."

She notes that the temperature in the Joneses' home is kept at 68 degrees in the daytime. "For awhile, it was down to 62 degrees, but I couldn't do that anymore. It was too cold. One person told me they have theirs set on 55 degrees." At night the Joneses wear socks, sweaters and long sleeves to bed and use lots of throws on top.

"I don't know how people do it," wonders Judy Jones, who is a member of the Three Angels Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Whiting. "The churches don't have money to help. The food pantries do good in giving out food, but they can't help with fuel."

Many asking for assistance

The most recent statistics from the Maine State Housing Authority indicate that more than 32,000 Maine households had been served this season by the LIHEAP program as of January 9, and more than 7,300 applications are still being processed. The average benefit is expected to be $579 or about enough to buy about 173 gallons of fuel at the average price of $3.34 a gallon. That's more than $1 a gallon above last year's price.

Ways to help

The WHCA is holding the "Night of Warm Hearts" on Saturday, February 9, in Ellsworth at the Holiday Inn. Proceeds will benefit The Heating and Warmth (THAW) emergency assistance fund. Call 664-2424 for more information.

Anyone who wants an application for Citizens Energy/Citgo Oil Heat Program can call 1-800-Joe-4Oil.