There's now a way for Rhode Islanders statewide to get their heating oil at a discount from People’s Power & Light (PP&L), and at the same time support this great nonprofit group which has been a powerful supporter of alternative energy projects for our state. Customers in every city and town - except Block Island - benefit from the power of numbers -- PP&L can negotiate better prices for its customers than any of us can get on our own.

“Every day the wholesale price goes down, our retail price goes down,” promises Karina Lutz, PP&L deputy director. The PP&L average price today dropped to $2.592. (The last statewide average reported by the Office of Energy Resources was taken on Oct. 27, at $2.809.) The statewide average was $3.249 on Oct. 14, while the PP&L rate was at $2.899. Click here to sign up online.

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The heating oil industry has been through spasms lately due to a combination of events, says PP&L — the growing difficulty for oil companies to find cheap petroleum as demand outstrips supply and oil reserves wane being at the core. Other causes include the speculation that seems to be in part curbed by new efforts by the federal government. On the local level, there is very little that can be done about global oil prices, but the four strategies People’s Power & Light promotes:

            1) energy efficiency first—consumers and government should do all they can to save energy because it is much less expensive than buying oil;

            2) the use of group buying power to get fair prices from dealers;

            3) moving quickly to sustainable, renewable energy sources like wind power; and

            4) providing fuel assistance to those who would otherwise be priced out of the market.

To that last purpose, People's Power & Light advocates for more low-income weatherization, heating assistance, and low-income protections. People's Power & Light also collects funds for the RI Oil Bank, which it distributes to low-income heating oil users who have run out of fuel. “And we stretch donations to the RI Oil Bank by using the Discount Heating Oil delivery system,” said Lutz. “In these difficult times, every little bit counts.”

People's Power & Light is a nonprofit that aggregates consumer power to make energy more affordable and sustainable. For the program described above, the group negotiates better prices and service from home heating oil dealers for our members. PP&L also advocates for better policies to advance both affordability and environmental sustainability. Through New England GreenStart, the group also provides consumers the opportunity to support locally generated green power.