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Winter Taking Toll On Heating Oil Supplies

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The winter of 2014 has been one to forget for Bradigan's Incorporated, a home heating oil and diesel fuel distributor in Kittanning.

Unlike last winter, the company has barely been able to supply customers due to high demand.

"In a large way, the weather has a lot to do with it, because our heating oil supplies and diesel fuel supplies that were normally allocated to this region were diverted to power plants along the east coast," said owner Tom Bradigan.

Because it's been so cold this winter, heating oil supplies are very low and as a result, prices are very high.

Bradigan says since January, suppliers have raised home heating oil prices by $.55, anywhere between $3.80 and $3.90 a gallon.

"I just believe it's appropriate for the public to know that the reason they're paying more for their prices is because of the shortage," he said.

Facing higher prices and the daily threat of shortages, the company has somehow found a way to keep customers supplied.

"It's not been easy, but the oil industry has a bad habit of preserving and forging ahead to do whatever it takes to get the products," Bradigan said. "We're going to Altoona, sometimes to Bradford and Warren, Pennsylvania."

Consumers aren't the only ones paying high fuel costs – businesses are also feeling the pinch.

"Farming operations, truckers, buses, anything that has to do with transportation has suffered from this price increase due to this shortage," Bradigan said.

Unless there's a break in the weather, Bradigan doesn't expect things to change this month.

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