The cost of heating a home is expected to hit an all time high this winter, according to the state officials who coordinate various energy assistance programs for low-income consumers.
Consumers using heating oil face an average winter bill of $1,834, up 28 percent from last winter, according to a report by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Those heating with propane can expect to pay an average $1,732, a 30 percent increase.
Electric heat will seem a bargain in comparison, at $883 for the season, an increase of just seven percent. Natural gas will be cheaper still, rising just five percent to $883 for the winter.
These record prices will place a significant burden on low- and moderate-income families this winter, said Mark Wolfe, the groups executive director.
Low-income families pay a higher percentage of their income for home energy needs than other households. In Fiscal Year 2005 the mean energy burden for low-income households was 14.6 percent, Wolfe says, as compared to 3.2 percent for all other households.
Wolfe said the Bush administration should immediately release money from the government's Low Income Home Energy Program to help poor families pay their heating bills.
