ALBANY – Fresh on the heels of Ulster County’s home heating summit, County Administrator Michael Hein represented the New York State Association of Counties concerns at the Governor’s conference on home heating in Albany Thursday.

Hein said among the concerns of local agencies is the cost of purchasing fuel oil under the Home Energy Assistance Program.

“Currently, HEAP is dealt with on a case by case basis and because of that, they pay some of the highest costs when they purchase fuel, versus being able to buy in bulk and save the taxpayers a significant amount of money,” he said.

The Governor’s conference brought together a number of representatives from government and agencies across the state in an effort to tackle the impending home heating oil price crisis that is looming around the corner when the winter weather sets in.