Albany Community Action Partnership offering free heating oil to qualifying county residents
— Photo from New York State Senate
The Albany Community Action Partnership is offering heating oil to families within Albany County who make less than 200 percent of the federal poverty rate.
ALBANY COUNTY — A local community organization is using donated money to keep families warm with heating oil help at a time when home fuel prices have soared.
The Albany Community Action Partnership is offering heating oil to families within Albany County who make less than 200 percent of the federal poverty rate or who were not able qualify for benefits through New York State’s Home Energy Assistance Program, known as HEAP, because they exceeded the income requirements, according to the organization’s program manager of development and marketing, Katie Wock.
“We will work with each family on a case-by-case basis (not just for the amount of oil delivered, but for the eligibility), and will prioritize those who are in a heating emergency and unable to purchase fuel,” Wock told The Enterprise this week.
She said that the group works with all the major oil companies in Albany County and will help the household set up a delivery with one of these companies.
The federal poverty level for a household of two is currently $19,720, so 200 percent would be $39,440. The 200-percent level increases or decreases by $10,280 per household member.
There is no deadline to apply as fuel is being delivered on a first-come, first-served basis, Wock said. Those interested can call the community action partnership at 518-463-3175, option 2, Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m to find out if they qualify.
The program is funded by a donation made by the company GlobalFoundries to the New York State Community Action Agency, which distributed the funds to various community action organizations across the state, Wock said.
GlobalFoundries, which has foundries in Singapore, Germany, and the United States, manufactures semiconductor chips.
Heating oil is almost as expensive as it’s ever been in the Capital District, according to data from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. In January, the latest month data is available, the average monthly cost-per-gallon of heating oil was $4.91. Although down from a peak of $6.29 in May of 2022, the last time heating oil cost around $5.00 was in 2008, when it reached a peak of $4.80.
