Ka-Ching: Home Heating Costs to Rise

Get ready to pay more to heat your home this winter.

Prices for natural gas, electricity and propane are projected to rise. That means about 90 percent of 116 million U.S. households will be shelling out more to stay warm from now through next March, according to forecasts by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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Here's what you'll be paying in total over those six months:

• Natural gas customers: an average of $679

• Electric-heat users: an average of $909

• Propane customers: an average of $1,666

Heating-oil customers will catch a break, if you can call it that. They'll be spending 2 percent less than last year, for an average of $2,046.

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Meanwhile, Washington's prolonged budget dispute is having a chilling effect on people who need heating assistance. The government's Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program ( LIHEAP), which helps low-income families heat their homes, is shut down because the $3 billion that was budgeted for the program is tied up in the budget battle, according to LIHEAP's website.

Please visit the LIHEAP for more information.  here.

Photo: Royal broil/Flickr

 

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