罗得岛州全州取暖油价10月29日涨至每加仑6.30美元 较去年同期3.68美元几近翻倍引援助担忧
罗得岛州取暖油价格本周涨至每加仑平均6.30美元，远高于去年同期的3.68美元，随着气温下降，不少家庭面临如何负担冬季基本开支的难题，援助项目是否够用引发担忧。联邦参议员杰克·里德表示：“如果冬天不能取暖、夏天不能降温，你根本没法住在这所房子里。
”里德曾帮助罗得岛州低收入家庭能源援助计划争取到超过2300万美元资金，该计划帮助符合条件的家庭支付取暖账单，去年全州有超过2.7万名居民获得援助，其中不少是靠固定收入生活的老年人。三县社区行动组织主席约瑟夫·德桑蒂斯表示，随着取暖油价格近期飙升，资金“可能不够”。
里德表示，他正在努力争取更多资金以满足增长的需求。符合条件的家庭收入须在州收入中位数的60%及以下，四口之家的门槛为83481美元。
联邦官员还宣布，计划从东北部储备中释放最多31.5万桶石油。取暖油价格的持续高位，让罗得岛州这个冬季的能源援助缺口成为各方关注的焦点。
Rhode Island Home Heating Oil Reaches $6.30 a Gallon on October 29, Nearly Double Last Year's $3.68, Raising Winter Assistance Concerns
Home heating oil prices in Rhode Island rose this week to an average of $6.30 per gallon, far above last year's $3.68 at the same time; as temperatures fall, many families face difficulty affording basic winter expenses, raising concerns about whether assistance programs will be enough. U.S. Senator Jack Reed said: "If you can't heat your home in the winter or cool it in the summer, you really can't live in that home."
Reed helped secure more than $23 million for Rhode Island's Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps eligible households pay heating bills; last year more than 27,000 residents statewide received assistance, many of them seniors living on fixed incomes. Joseph DeSantis, president of Tri-County Community Action, said that with heating oil prices spiking recently, the funds "may not be enough." Reed said he is working to secure additional funding to meet growing demand.
Eligible households must have incomes at or below 60 percent of the state median income, a threshold of $83,481 for a family of four. Federal officials also announced plans to release up to 315,000 barrels of oil from the Northeast reserve. Persistently high heating oil prices have made this winter's energy assistance gap in Rhode Island a focus of attention.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：联邦参议员杰克·里德官方肖像 / Official portrait of U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island. Photo: Rebecca Hammel, U.S. Senate Photographic Studio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
