09/04/2008
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Staff photo by David Leamingfrom the Kennebec Journal
Rep. Pingree hears varied proposals for health-care solutions
HALLOWELL Fire that cut communications labeled arson
MONMOUTH Police defended after slim budget rejection
State's schools chief to parley
Wasser will lead newsrooms at KJ, Sentinel and in Portland
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Hockey still in picture for Harrington
Portland boxer to face legend's son
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$1.3 MILLION FOR HEALTHREACH
Families Matter grows to meet special needs
Chellie Pingree listens to ideas on health care reform
FARMINGTON Rain alters plans for 4th of July
District regroups after budget failure
Vote on county budget hits snag
Burnham driver wins checkered flag at 2 tracks on same day
Maine boxer gets unique opportunity
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from the Morning Sentinel
He estimated that buying heating oil this winter would cost him almost $5,000. He could heat his home for about four years with the hardwood on his four-acre lot, but purchasing a wood-fired boiler and accompanying equipment would cost at least $6,000.
So when he heard that Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union was offering low-interest loans for just that purpose, he didn't take long to decide.
"I was actually the first one to get on board getting a loan," Seavey said. "It wasn't more than a day or two."
This year for the first time, a majority -- about two-thirds -- of credit unions in Maine are offering low- or no-interest loans to help residents warm their homes.
Heating oil in August cost $4 a gallon, up from $1.60 in 2004, according to the Maine Energy Resources Council. As Mainers seek ways to conserve energy and find alternate methods of heating their homes, local credit unions are helping to mitigate cash flow problems, Maine Credit Union League spokesman Jon Paradise said.
"Definitely it's unprecedented," he said of the trend among credit unions. "People have to heat their homes, and it's great to see credit unions stepping up and being very proactive in what could otherwise be very challenging economic conditions."
The Westbrook-based Maine Credit Union League represents all but one of the 68 credit unions in the state. More than 600,000 Mainers hold credit union memberships. Some banks in the state are also offering similar programs, but a smaller percentage of them target home heating specifically, said Maine Bankers Association Vice President Mark Walker.
Paradise said some credit unions last year began offering low-interest and sometimes no-interest loans for fuel purchases, to be paid back over a 12-month period. This year, more credit unions offered similar programs, and also devised loan programs to fund furnace purchases and weather-proofing.
Sebasticook Valley Credit Union, for instance, offers a no-interest loan for up to $3,000 to purchase fuel, which must be repaid within 12 months. An alternative energy program offers loans for heating equipment, such as furnaces or boilers, with interest rates depending on a borrower's credit score and ranging from 4.5 to 10 percent, credit union president Jim Lemieux said. So far, 40 people have applied for loans with the former program; about a dozen with the latter.
Taconnet Federal Credit Union in Winslow offers similar programs.
"The situation in Maine is awful," Taconnet loan officer Josh Plisga said. "The fuel prices and oil prices, it's ridiculous. When I first started driving, it was a dollar a gallon."
Loans for fuel, whether oil or wood pellets, allow homeowners to buy it in bulk, which can sometimes result in discounted prices that can be paid back over a longer time period.
"I remember better days," said Diane Nickerson, a loan officer with Augusta-based Maine Education Credit Union. "In the summer, that's all anybody talked about when they came into the office ... how they were going to survive this winter with fuel prices and gas prices."
Buying fuel in bulk "is difficult for a large percentage of Mainers," Paradise said. "You look at Maine's demographics and economics, the cost of living and personal income ... the state's economic challenges are already in place. But it's become even more apparent with rising costs of heating oil and food."
For people like Seavey, the Skowhegan man who converted his home this summer to heat with a wood-burning boiler, using a loan to make the transition is an investment that should pay for itself in just a few years. Seavey works as a paper machine operator at Verso Paper in Jay, and with a stretch could have afforded to purchase an inexpensive pellet stove without a loan, but he doesn't think that would have been the most efficient route.
Besides the fact that he owns a large amount of hardwood, Seavey chose to burn firewood, rather than pellets, because he predicts that pellet prices will rise as more people forsake heating oil.
Those who continue heating their homes with oil will take a hit this winter, Seavey said.
"I'm afraid that the elderly and those on fixed incomes or making minimum wage -- it's going to be tough on them," he said.
Joel Elliott -- 861-9252
jelliott@centralmaine.com
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