Fuel dealers say customers can’t pay bills, lawmaker proposes bill

HARTFORD (AP) – More than 60 days delinquent in paying her oil bill, a desperate Middletown woman recently called Peterson Oil Co., asking for help.

Jim Meehan, president of the Portland-based home heating oil company, said he has other customers who are more than 90 days late in paying their bills. Given the rising price of fuel, coupled with higher food costs and other expenses, many of his customers cannot afford the $1,000 it often costs to fill their oil tanks.


“We try to accommodate. It’s tough,” he said, adding that some customers owe $1,500 to $2,500 in back heating bills, creating a cash flow problem for his business. “They just have no way of paying it.”

Meehan and a group of fuel dealers appeared at the state Capitol on Monday with U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., to support federal legislation that aims to remove the speculation in the energy futures market. An Energy Department official this month said market speculation on energy prices may have added as much as 10 percent to crude oil costs.

AP