Heating costs in state might rise 40%, officials warn at meeting
ALBANY — State officials say the costs of heating homes could increase as much as 40 percent from last winter, causing widespread financial hardships for residents, especially those with low incomes.
They made the prediction on a warm summer day during a gathering in the Capitol of representatives of state agencies, the Legislature and the energy industry.
State officials began brainstorming of possible ways to boost interest in weatherization and other energy conservation efforts. The state, which faces a severe financial crunch, also is looking to the federal government to beef up funding for two major programs to assist with home heating.
“We in government need to help consumers with this issue,” said Paul DeCotis, deputy secretary for energy in the administration of Gov. David A. Paterson. He and others declined to spell out recommendations the panel will make later this week to the governor.
One idea — costing more than $500 million — calls for expanding the state’s Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides grants to low-income families to help pay heating bills. The bill, which passed in the Assembly but died last week in the Senate, would impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies to fund a program that, in future years, could cost $830 million annually.
With oil and natural gas prices expected to nearly double this winter, Assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill of Kingston, a Democrat who heads the Assembly Energy Committee, said the program also should at least double its efforts to help more people qualify.
The state, however, faces a $21 billion deficit over the next three years, and Paterson already has ordered cuts in agency spending.
If steps are not taken before winter to deal with the looming
energy problem, “people will freeze. People will lose their homes,” said Cahill.
