This really harsh winter couldn't come at a worse time for many in the USA. With so many unemployed, under-employed, credit, bank and investments accounts hurt by the recent financal crises, not to mention the "mortgage crisis", many persons are finding it hard to come up with funds to pay heating bills.
Seniors especially are hard hit as many are on fixed incomes, while they can be "house poor", and literally do not have funds to put oil in the tank. Gas bills are a different story as one can (hopefully), work something out, but oil companies normally won't deliver without cash or credit card.
States are lowering their requirements for heating assistance, and even before that there was record demand as many "middle class" homeowners simply have a choice to make; food on the table or heat.