Heating oil prices expected to increase

Record-high fuel prices threaten to make heating homes across the Inland Northwest especially expensive in coming months.

Whether it’s heating oil, natural gas or electricity, homeowners should brace for a costly winter.

Heating oil, the red-dyed fuel still used in many homes, is selling for more than $1.80 a gallon from most fuel delivery companies. This time last year, that price was about $1.40 a gallon.

The cost of heating oil is tied directly to the price of crude, which topped $50 a barrel for the first time this week. Some analysts say the price of crude could reach $60 a barrel this winter.

“People are going to have a hard time this year,” said Lawrence McKinley, manager of Moore Landscape Materials & Fuel. “Some always need a little help and this winter they’re really going to need it.”

He’s among the smaller fuel companies in Spokane, delivering some 850,000 gallons to customers.

The high prices are not good for his business because passing along higher costs always comes with the risk of upsetting customers, he said. Sometimes it means operating with a thin profit margin or none at all.

If a typical household uses three to five gallons of oil each day during an average chilly winter, the cost could hit $8 to $10 a day.

Tom Reid, of BestWay Fuel and Spray, isn’t predicting which direction oil prices will go this winter.

While acknowledging prices are high, he encouraged customers to ensure their furnaces are in good working order.

Natural gas prices are poised to rise, too.

Avista Corp. wants the OK from state regulators to hike prices in Washington. If the Spokane-based company gets that approval, the average homeowner’s natural gas bill would jump by $13 a month, to about $79. Some of that total bill, however, would come from natural gas appliances, such as hot-water heaters, clothes dryers and kitchen ranges, said Avista spokeswoman Catherine Markson.

Idaho recently granted a similar Avista rate increase request.

Across the country the supply of natural gas is considered adequate. The price, however, is high because of demand, according to the Natural Gas Supply Association.