People who use heating oil to warm their homes and businesses saw high off-season prices. They are bracing themselves for high in-season prices as well.

Dawn Godshall is CEO of Community Action Lehigh Valley, a nonprofit anti-poverty organization.

“Everything is costing more,” she said. “And so people have really tough choices to make.”

For many, it can be a choice of feeding themselves or heating their spaces.

“Unfortunately, a lot of them will use their ovens to keep them warm,” Godshall said.

Amid rising prices across the board, experts say the war in Iran has been causing spikes in oil costs, which have risen from $3.27 per gallon last year to $5.49 just this week: a 68% jump.

“Right now, we’re selling it for $5.50,” Rami Rabi said.

Rabi owns Loil Fuel in Allentown. He says right now, it costs up to $1,300 to fill up a 250-gallon tank.

“So, if they call me today,” he said, “I’m going to be there tomorrow because tomorrow could be $0.40 higher.”

Earlier Tuesday, websites like gasbuddy.com were reporting a slight drop in oil prices.

“It came down probably about 30 cents in the last three or four days, not including the weekend,” Rabi said.

But even while visiting Loil Fuel that same day, Rabi noticed a 6-cent spike in oil prices.

“Now it went back up,” he said.

According to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, U.S. home heating costs across the board are projected to rise by nearly nine percent more this winter: more than twice the rate of inflation. Oil is expected to jump 31 percent.

Godshall with Community Action Lehigh Valley says her nonprofit is seeing a large increase in the community utilizing its services.

“So, when people can’t afford to pay for oil, or they can’t afford to pay for any of their utilities, they start visiting a lot more food pantries because then they use their food money to put into other bills,” she said.

Godshall says help is out there, and people should use it.

“Many people are proud, and they don’t want to admit that they need help,” she said. “I would rather see people get the help that they need and call and see if they are eligible for the things that we have to offer.”

To see if you qualify for weatherization with Community Action, head here: https://www.communityactionlv.org/weatherization

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, uses federal funds to help pay for heating.

To contact the office, head here: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dhs/contact/cao-information

For a list of more resources, head here: https://lehighvalleyalive.com/business/Food-Pantries.cfm