REGIONAL— The heating season regularly strains budgets for many North Country families, but this year’s season is likely to be among the most painful in memory, as the cost of fuel oil is hitting records.
As of this week, a gallon of fuel oil delivered to Tower, for example, was running just about $6 a gallon, or higher, which would put the cost of filling a typical 250-gallon tank at a whopping $1,500 or more. With many homeowners in the region requiring multiple fill-ups during a typical winter, the seasonal cost of home heating could run $5,000 or more this winter. Add in the sharp increases in the price of gas at the pump, and it’s going to make for a challenging winter here for many household budgets in the North Country.
While only about two percent of homes in Minnesota are heated with fuel oil, that percentage jumps sharply in rural parts of the state, particularly in northeastern Minnesota, where estimates run as high as 10-20 percent in St. Louis County. Many of the homes that are still heated with fuel oil are older, often with less insulation and with older furnaces, so these residents face the double whammy of poor energy efficiency as well as high fuel costs.
For elderly residents on fixed incomes, which may be limited to Social Security, heating their homes this winter may simply be unaffordable.
There are programs that can help, although they face funding limits more in line with typical fuel prices. The primary program, known as the Energy Assistance Program, or EAP, which is administered in northeastern Minnesota by the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency, is currently authorized to provide no more than $1,400 per household. That amounts to a single fill of a typical fuel oil tank at current prices.
But most households don’t receive anywhere near $1,400. Program director Jean Pelletier said the program serves about 9,000 households in St. Louis, Lake, and Cook counties, with an average grant of between $500-$600, which would buy no more than 100 gallons at current prices.
Pelletier said the program can only do so much, based on the funding available. “The funding hasn’t gone up on our end,” she said.
Because the program is currently financed through a continuing resolution approved by Congress, funding levels are expected to stay the same, despite the sharp rise in fuel oil prices.
Congress has, so far, shown little interest in the Trump White House’s proposal to zero out the Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which funds the EAP. It appears that the same funding would be in place when the 2027 fiscal year began Oct. 1. That’s the same date when the AEOA began accepting applications for the EAP, but the processing of applications can take up to 12 weeks under normal circumstances at the beginning of the heating season. That means it could be well into the heating season before homeowners will know if they qualify for help, and for how much.
Assistance is income based, depending on the size of a homeowner’s household and annual income. See the accompanying chart on this page for specifics.
The Energy Assistance Program provides payments direct to energy suppliers, such as the company that delivers the fuel oil or propane to qualified households.
Other tips to keep costs in check
There are other funding sources that could be available to homeowners facing emergencies during cold weather. “If your fuel tank gets low, you can apply for crisis funding,” said Carmen Carruthers, outreach director with the state’s Citizens Utility Board, or CUB. “If someone’s heating system goes out, they may be able to get it replaced or repaired for free.”
Carruthers also cited small steps that homeowners can take to keep their heating costs down. A programmable thermostat is a relatively easy and low-cost step that can make a significant difference, while improving your comfort level during the heating season. Programmable thermostats allow homeowners, particularly those with regular work schedules, to automatically turn down the heat a considerable amount before they leave for work or when they go to bed at night. Then, it can automatically turn up the heat to a more comfortable setting before you arrive home or get up from bed. “Once it’s set, you don’t have to think about it or remember to turn down the heat,” Carruthers said.
You can also save by keeping any thermostat set as low as you can tolerate. She suggested homeowners can try turning their thermostat down a degree at a time to determine their own particular comfort level.
Insulation is also key to keeping both heating and cooling costs in check. Carruthers notes that for homeowners who qualify, the EAP does include some funds to pay for weatherization, including adding insulation to older homes. “Sometimes there are waiting lists so it takes some advanced planning,” she said.
While many homeowners focus on the price of their heating fuels, Carruthers notes that people should also pay attention to their electric bills and consider ways to save there as well. That can include making sure that you’re using energy efficient LED lighting. Newer electronic devices, like computer monitors or flat-screen televisions, can use significantly less electricity than older models.
Propane prices more stable
For most rural residents here in the North Country, propane is the primary heating fuel. While propane prices have bumped up, the increases have paled in comparison to those seen for fuel oil. One area propane supplier said prices have jumped about 30 cents a gallon since this same time last year and are sitting at $1.99 a gallon. While propane provides fewer BTUs per gallon than fuel oil, propane is still running less than half the price of fuel oil for equivalent heating capacity. Propane furnaces also tend to be higher efficiency (about 95-98 percent) as well, which allows homeowners to extract more of the heating value from a gallon of propane than with fuel oil. Most fuel oil furnaces operate at an 80-90 percent efficiency rating.
Propane prices have been slower to rise than with other heating fuels because it comes from North American sources, primarily the U.S. and Canada. It’s a byproduct of oil and natural gas production and given the high levels of production in both the U.S. and Canada over the past several years, supplies of propane have remained relatively abundant and prices have been mostly stable.