HARTFORD — While last year’s lower fuel prices helped to decrease the gap between what struggling Connecticut families can afford to pay for energy and what they actually paid, there are concerns fuel prices will be higher this winter.
Karen Adamson, executive director of Operation Fuel, a nonprofit emergency energy assistance program, notes that the U.S. Energy Administration is predicting home heating oil prices could be 36 percent higher, while electricity costs could jump 5 percent.
She says this comes as Operation Fuel continues to see an increase in the number of needy households.
Operation Fuel released its 2016 Home Energy Affordability Gap study on Tuesday. It shows the overall gap between what low-income families can afford and what they pay for energy is $399 million, $71 million less than the 2015 study.
