Every day, Holly Linden contends with an increasing number of customers who cannot afford to pay their propane bill.

As co-owner of Linden's Propane in LaGrange, Ohio, Linden will direct these customers – some who have been good customers for decades – to assistance programs, such as Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), or local churches and charity groups, to help them afford a partial fill. Sometimes she must make the hard choice to admit she can't stretch their credit any longer.

It's a decision that eats away at her, particularly when the customer is someone she's known a long time and who now lives on a fixed income. Even with LIHEAP assistance, their limited resources can't stretch to accommodate today's record propane prices.

The graph shows how prices for all propane users have risen rapidly in recent years.

"It makes you sleepless at night," she admits. "You feel terrible, you hate doing it. I would hate to have someone out cold who's been my customer for years. I don't like it at all."

Linden is just one of myriad retailers who are feeling squeezed by economic conditions that are making it increasingly difficult for customers to heat their homes and retailers to stay in business. An economy near – or, some say, in – recession means more people are out of work and unable to pay bills, so retailers are forced to stretch credit limits, extend days before payment is due, and in some cases, write off uncollectible debt. At the same time, record energy prices are making suppliers tighten their payment requirements and are demanding payment from retailers 10 days after delivery rather than 15 or 20, retailers say.

As shown prices of energy sources comprising the composite residential price index also have increased.

Linden says she feels caught in the middle because she doesn't want to cut off her customers – especially during the extremely cold winter – but she has her own creditors to answer to.

"I also know I have a responsibility to keep the business going for all my customers and my employees, and I have to be able to pay my bills," Linden says.

How LIHEAP works

Started in 1982 to help low-income households pay their home energy bills, the program gave assistance to 5.8 million people last year – just 16 percent of 34 million eligible households, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association.

Residential propane prices are rising at a greater rate than the residential composite energy price index. Energy sources are compared in MMBtus.

LIHEAP is funded by the federal Department of Health and Human Services through block grants issued to each state through a complex formula that includes that states' number of heating degree days and the number of people living in poverty. Eligible families or individuals apply for aid primarily through community action programs, local welfare agencies and area agencies on aging.