[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 102 (Thursday, June 19, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S5838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Kerry):
  S. 3170. A bill to amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to 
modify the conditions for the release of products from the Northeast 
Home Heating Oil Reserve Account, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On Page S5838, June 19, 2008, in the First Column, the following 
appears: ``By Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Kennedy): 
S. 3170. A bill to amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to 
modify the conditions for the release of products from the 
Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve Account, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.''
  
  The online version was corrected to read: ``By Ms. SNOWE (for 
herself, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Kerry): S. 3170. A bill to amend the 
Energy Policy and Conservation Act to modify the conditions for 
the release of products from the Northeast Home Heating Oil 
Reserve Account, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.''


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on a bill I am 
introducing with my colleague, Senator Snowe, to amend the Northeast 
Home Heating Oil Reserve program. I want to thank Senator Snowe for her 
tremendous leadership on the problem this bill is designed to address, 
which is a critically important issue for our region that we have 
worked together on for many years. That issue is the skyrocketing price 
of heating oil, which millions of families in the Northeast are 
dependent on to heat their homes through our long, cold winters.
  According to the Department of Energy's Energy Information Agency, 
EIA, 6.2 million of the 8 million households in the U.S. that use 
heating oil to heat their homes are in the Northeast, or approximately 
78 percent. As crude oil and gasoline prices have risen higher and 
higher, the cost of heating oil has risen as well. Currently, heating 
oil is far and away the costliest method of heating homes, costing 
families an average of nearly $2000 per year, and much more in the 
coldest areas. Overall, heating a home with heating oil costs twice the 
national average of all fuels combined, yet most families in the 
Northeast have little choice. Even in some of our region's cities, 
there are no natural gas lines or other sources of home heating 
available to residents.
  This dependence on heating oil is stretching many families' budgets 
to the breaking point. Where once low and moderate income families 
could struggle through the winter, soaring heating oil prices are 
forcing people to choose between heating their homes, driving their 
cars to and from work, and putting food on the table for their 
families. The EIA estimated that this year, it will cost $1,962 to heat 
a home with oil, a 33 percent increase from last year and a 117 percent 
increase since 2004. In just 4 short years, the cost of heating a home 
with oil has gone up more than $1000 dollars! Many families and seniors 
living on fixed incomes simply cannot bear this burden.
  That is why Senator Snowe and I are proposing a price trigger to 
provide for oil to be released from the Northeast Home Heating Oil 
Reserve. This is a 2-million barrel reserve I originally worked to 
create in 2000, along with my colleague from Maine and other Senators 
from the Northeast, to protect the residents of the region from severe 
price shocks to the heating oil market. Given the record heating oil 
prices we are experiencing today, we believe it would be reasonable to 
use this reserve to try to cushion those dependent on heating oil to 
get through the winter. From November through March, the Secretary of 
Energy would conduct a survey to determine the price of a gallon of 
heating oil on the first of each month. If the price meets or exceeds 
$4 per gallon, this would trigger an immediate release of 20 percent of 
the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. This oil would then be sold on 
the open market to lower the price of heating oil in the region.
  The revenue raised by the sale would then be devoted to the 
Weatherization Assistance Program to help low income heating oil 
customers increase the energy efficiency of their homes. Experience has 
shown that properly weatherizing homes can increase their energy 
efficiency by 20-30 percent, reducing energy consumption and lowering 
monthly utility bills. However, most low and middle income families 
cannot afford the upfront investment necessary to reap these benefits. 
The Weatherization Assistance Program is an enormously successful 
program designed to help families make that initial investment.
  This bill will not solve our Nation's energy crisis, nor will this 
alone solve the problem of high heating oil prices in the Northeast. As 
the Senator from Maine well knows, we need to devote far more money to 
programs like the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and we 
need to take a serious look at restructuring our Nation's comprehensive 
energy policy. But this legislation is a very good first step toward 
easing the pain so many residents of the Northeast and my State of 
Connecticut are feeling. I urge my colleagues to support us in this 
effort.

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