Average oil prices remain high and for others, electricity rates have roughly doubled.
“What can you do? You just cut back. Our energy bill went up 50%,” said David Bednarz, of Ledyard.
Two months ago, that surge led Bristol’s Davon Mills to Operation Fuel, a nonprofit program focused on providing energy assistance for those in need.
Mills said he’s been able to reduce his electricity bill by roughly $150 because of their help.
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Since then, applications have been so plentiful that Operation Fuel announced it is not accepting new applications during the month of March.
Brenda Watson, executive director of Operation Fuel, said it’s less about money and more about a lack of processing power to address the heavy influx of applications due to the increase in energy costs.
She said out of the roughly 5,600 current applications, nearly 50% have yet to be processed.
“In order to get through that number, we do need to suspend a number of applications that are coming in, so that we can prepare for the onslaught that we’re expecting at the end of the winter moratorium,” Watson said.
Last summer, Operation Fuel increased its grant amount from $500 to $1,000 as a way to address rising oil prices and provide enough aid for people to fill their oil tanks.
When they begin accepting new applications again on April 3, Watson said the program will return to that $500 sum in order to serve more people.
“I would love to stay at the $1,000, but that would deplete our resources that much faster,” she said.
For those in need of assistance, there are other avenues that Watson suggested.
“Connecticut Energy Assistance Program is available to folks who are low income. The utility companies have a host of low income programs that they offer,” she said.
For electricity, there’s also third-party suppliers that may have better rates than standard suppliers like Eversource and United Illuminating, but that approach requires steadfast attention.
According to a report from the Connecticut Office of Consumer Council, customers on a third-party supplier have paid an average total of $45 million per year above those with standard suppliers since 2015.
In 2022, however, their data shows a different trend, with those using alternative suppliers actually saving roughly $10 million in total.
“This problem is much larger than Operation Fuel and it really is up to our people in position of power to do something about it,” Watson said.
Additional information on third-party rates can be found here.
