Homeowners seek locked oil costs help

Hartford (AP) - Connecticut officials say hundreds of homeowners are asking for help to get out of costly fuel oil contracts they signed last summer.

According to The Connecticut Post, they locked in prices at a time when crude oil reached up to $147 per barrel and appeared to continue to be rising. Since then, however, prices have dropped by more than half.

The state Department of Consumer Protection says it has received 700 complaints so far from consumers. That's in addition to several hundred filed with Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

The homeowners say being forced to honor the higher prices equates to price gouging.

But Blumenthal and state fuel oil dealers say the contracts are solid.

That's because dealers had to ensure enough supply for customers as they signed the contracts, so the dealers were locked into the higher prices with their distributors, too.