As Vermonters prepare for another frigid weekend, a season of multiple cold snaps has led to heating fuel and firewood shortages.
Beginning Saturday, a blast of arctic air will drop temperatures across Vermont, with windchills causing lows down to feel like minus 20 to minus 35 degrees, according to Matthew Clay, a meteorologist at the Burlington office of the National Weather Service.
The weather service issued extreme cold warnings and cold weather advisories for the region on Friday, warning residents that temperatures would drop Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning.
The forecasted cold brings another set of dangerous lows since the New Year. Clay explained that such low temperatures were not uncommon for Vermont, but the frequency of extreme cold events has been higher compared to recent years.
The season’s cold temperatures have strained heating infrastructure, creating dire situations as some Vermonters run low on fuel.
Residents in Vermont are far more reliant on home heating fuels compared to the rest of the country, explained Kerrick Johnson, the commissioner for the Vermont Department of Public Service, which tracks energy use and fuel prices in the state.
While heating fuel supplies appear to be sufficient, according to the Department of Public Service, they notified private fuel suppliers that some residents would be in urgent need of fuel and urged them to plan for increased deliveries during the extended cold period.
Last December, Gov. Phil Scott declared a fuel shortage emergency in an attempt to speed up heating oil and propane deliveries. Yet some communities have still reported shortfalls.
Multiple residents in Lamoille County reported shortages over the last few weeks, with some fully running out of fuel while temperatures reached negatives.
Last week, Eric Karandy, an Eden resident, and his family returned from a ski trip to find their home without fuel, and they suddenly realized that their wood stove was their only source of heat.
“It was just scary,” he said. “We knew it was negative 20 the next day.”
Karandy suspects that the company that provides his fuel had not adjusted its models for the exceptionally cold season and additional usage, and was now under delivering fuel to his home and others in the area.
Karandy was able to get fuel right before dark after hounding the company and making a complaint to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. But as a new wave of dangerously low temperatures approach, his tank is only at 10% full.
“We’re cutting it close,” he said.
Firewood supplies have also been strained by the cold with some homes running out of dry wood earlier than expected. Prices of kiln dried wood have risen over $400 per cord in some parts of the state, according to reporting by Vermont Public.
Emergency cold weather shelters will open across the state, as lows will drop below the temperature threshold of minus 10 degrees.
