Weather can’t cool heating oil deliveries
But SNAP offices closed for first time
Deliveries of heating oil and propane were slowed by the recent snowstorms, but there were no reports of homeowners waking up to empty tanks and frosty breath.
Spokesmen for Banner Furnace & Fuel and Bestway Fuel & Spray said their trucks were getting to customers despite the dicey road conditions.
“We’re chained up,” Banner fuel manager Sue LaRue said. “We’ve been able to keep going.”
Banner hired extra drivers, put them on overtime and operated Saturday and Sunday to make the 200 daily deliveries typical for a winter day, she said.
LaRue said the company monitors the weather closely, and it tried to top off as many tanks as possible before last week’s storm hit.
No clients of Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs reported fuel oil shortages, said Margaret Beloit, who heads the agency’s heating assistance program. She said only 500 of the 9,500 clients who received help with their heating bills last winter use oil.
SNAP has helped 3,500 clients this year. The total would have been higher if weather had not forced closure of SNAP offices last Thursday and Friday, she said.
SNAP spokesman Ron Hardin said the two-day closure was a first for the agency. The shutdown was particularly untimely for one woman with three children who had her electricity shut off Dec. 11 or 12, he said.
Hardin said the client did not know where to turn until a friend directed her to SNAP’s office in the Northeast Community Center. She had a Friday appointment, only to have it canceled.
The office reopened Monday and her power was turned back on, he said.
Hardin said he did not know if the client is an Avista Utilities customer, and neither did utility spokeswoman Debbie Simock.
But Simock said Avista encourages customers to call as soon as they get a shutoff notice. As long as the customer responds to the notice or follow-up telephone calls, she said, the utility will try to work with them on managing overdue bills while the power stays on. The process can take several weeks, she said.
Washington does not forbid utility shutoffs during winter months, as Idaho does.
Last week, Avista reported record electricity demand, with high utility bills sure to follow.
“January is going to be challenging for some folks,” Simock said.