When fuel prices began to rise, most people didn’t really notice.  When they finally did notice that the prices were continuing to rise and not coming down, they thought that there would be a solution before things got too bad.  When they started getting bad, folks hoped they would not get out of control, but they didn’t start to panic.

Well, things are as close as they can be to being out of control, and though people are not totally panicking, they are fearful and worried.  One of the areas of the country that is extremely worried is the East Coast, as well as other areas of the country that rely on fuel to provide heat in the freezing cold of winter.

In an effort to deal with these worries, local, county and state officials gathered with the United Way in Bath, Maine to determine emergency plans for the cold weather of winter in advance.  The Governor’s office, along with other offices, officials and organizations, described the programs that are available or will be available to homes during the coming winter, and any other emergency provisions are being considered. 

One of the most important issues that the gathering was trying to deal with the process of identifying individuals and households that will need extra assistance because they have extremely low income.  Not only is it important to find these households to get them assistance, but also to provide them with any information available regarding programs that are available to help them in addition to energy assistance.

The fact that officials on the East Coast are working to procure assistance for people months in advance of the winter/snow is heartening.  After all, there are things that individuals can do to winterize and weatherize their homes while the weather is still good.  Working on these issues in advance also gives people plenty of time to be able to do any work necessary to prepare.

Hopefully, wherever you live, if there are extremely cold winters, the same types of information, assistance and preparation will be available.  If you need information contact your local energy or utilities office well in advance of the onset of cold weather.

Tags: cold winter, Emergency Fuel, Emergency Heat, fuel crisis, Heat Crisis, winter weather

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Gas Prices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.