The needle on the gauge was flirting with 1/8 of a tank.

"It's a good thing the last couple of days have been warm," said Ennell Street resident Frank Bettencourt.

Bettencourt, a 79-year-old former custodian at the Greenhalge School, has owned the two-family home for almost 50 years. His average oil bill for one month is about $250. On a fixed income it's not always easy to handle. In the past, he has qualified for fuel assistance through Community Teamwork Inc. This year he was $11 over the threshold.

"I was kind of disappointed that I didn't make it," he said quietly, standing on his front steps while waiting for a delivery from Lucky Oil and Burner Service in Dracut.

But Bettencourt's oil is free this month, thanks to a collaboration between CTI, Lucky Oil and Citizens Energy Corp. CEC Chairman Joseph P. Kennedy II made the delivery personally, joking that allowing him to pull up within 10 feet of his house was probably the most dangerous thing Bettencourt has done in some time.

"You came pretty close," said Bettencourt.

Kennedy, whose non-profit company provides once-a-season deliveries of up to $200, said he has seen Bettencourt's situation repeated throughout the state.

"Oil has gone up 100 percent in the last two years," said Kennedy, wearing bright orange work gloves and pulling a hose from the truck to the nozzle on the side of Bettencourt's house. "Talk to anybody on the street. Their incomes have not gone up. Folks are getting squeezed. They have to choose between heating and eating."

Kennedy lamented a recent $2 billion cut in federal fuel assistance programs and said there is a lack of sensitivity on the part of the government.

"Something is wrong with our nation's values when this is allowed to happen. They didn't even leave coal in our Christmas stockings this year," he said.

Under CEC's Oil Heat Program, households receiving federal fuel assistance automatically get a letter from CEC, authorizing them to contact their local heating oil dealer to receive a delivery of discount fuel after their federal benefit runs out. Households who have not applied for the federal benefit are directed to their local fuel assistance agency to apply.

That's where CTI steps in.

Executive Director Karen Frederick said more than 9,000 local residents have applied for fuel assistance this year, up from 7,000 last year.

"I'm worried about what is happening," she said. "There are more cuts, less resources and the need is greater than ever."

Statewide, there are 530,000 people who need assistance, according to U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan, who added that the average yearly fuel bill has gone up $800.

"Oil companies are making record profits. The fact that money has been cut out of the federal budget speaks to the values that are lacking in Washington when they can provide huge tax cuts to large companies," said Meehan, who is trying to form a bipartisan coalition to get the $2 billion back into the assistance budget.

For Frank Bettencourt, his major concern is not letting his fuel tank get too low.

Dennis Shaughnessey's e-mail address is dshaughnessey@lowellsun.com.

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