Staying warm to cost up to 90% more
U.S. households can expect to pay sharply higher monthly heating bills this winter, with the increases ranging from 45% to 90% in much of the country, utility companies and weather forecasters warn. Surging energy prices, which have been climbing since spring, come at a time when many households are contending with higher mortgage-finance costs, higher taxes that accompany increased real estate assessments and property-insurance price increases the past two years.
John Tuccillo, former chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, says these creeping demands on household incomes will cut U.S. economic growth by three-quarters to 1 percentage point next year. Raphael Bostic, a professor of urban economics at the University of Southern California, says fixed-income and low-income households will be hardest hit.
Higher energy prices are now the No. 1 concern of most small and midsize business owners, a PNC Financial Services Group survey revealed Thursday.
Alabama
Alabama Power pondering temporary rate increase
After four hurricanes tore through Florida last year, three of the state’s five major electric utilities won temporary rate increases to help cover the cost of repairs and other expenses. With Alabama Power Co. now estimating its tab from Hurricane Katrina at a minimum of $70 million, the Alabama Public Service Commission will probably decide by year’s end whether to take a similar route, a spokesman for the state regulatory agency indicated Thursday.
Arkansas
Saturday, Sep 17, 2005
To the state’s three gas utilities, who are all asking for rate increases as state regulators warn that gas bills for residential customers will double this winter.
Those three companies, CenterPoint Arkla, Arkansas Western Gas and Arkansas Oklahoma Gas, have all by themselves changed Arkansas from a low-cost gas state to one where gas bills for residential consumers are now higher than the national average.
Those companies will be sending you a little note in the mail sometime soon telling you to either chill out during the winter or expect to pay a king’s ransom to keep warm.
California
Natural gas bills expected to rise 71%, PG&E says
KATRINA & RITA: Utility blames hurricanes for enormous jump in home heating costs
Saturday, October 1, 2005
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. warned Friday that Northern California home heating bills would leap 70.8 percent in October as hurricanes Katrina and Rita drive up natural gas prices nationwide.
The storms smashed through a thicket of offshore rigs that supply roughly one-fifth of the nation’s natural gas.
Americans dealing with record high gasoline prices caused by the hurricanes now also face the prospect of a painfully expensive home heating season. Utilities across the country are bracing their customers for increases ranging from 55 to 75 percent.
Katrina Hits Bay Area Pocketbooks Again
SAN JOSE — The economic heat on Bay Area resident is about to increase with Friday’s announcement by utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric that it will raise natural gas rates by 71 percent for October in the wake of Katrina’s damage in the Gulf.
The utility claims it has no choice after Hurricane Katrina damaged a major portion of the nation’s natural gas generating capabilities along the Gulf Coast. The rate increase will impact residents from Bakersfield north to the Oregon border.
The utility said for the average residential customer a 71 percent increase translates to $17.45 more for the gas portion of their bill this October compared to a year ago.
Colorado
Electric bills join natural gas boost
9 October 2005
Combined increases will raise cost to average consumer by 33%
Colorado consumers will get hammered with a major increase in electric bills – on top of soon-to-soar heating costs – under a price hike filed Wednesday by Xcel Energy.
Xcel asked state regulators to approve a 30 percent increase in monthly electric bills, effective Nov. 1. For the average residential customer, monthly electric costs would rise $16 a month, from the current $53 to $69. The price hike is a direct pass- through to consumers as a result of increased costs to Xcel.
Xcel further forecasts that winter heating bills for typical residential customers will increase by $44, from $127 last December to $171 this December.
The combined monthly costs for electricity and natural-gas heating this December would be $240, a huge jump of 33 percent from last year.
“It’s going to be bad, really bad for consumers,”
Florida
JEA Announces Another Rate Increase
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JEA has announced it is raising its rates again to cover soaring fuel costs. The community-owned utility company raised its rates by an average of $7 in November 2004 and then again by $10 in April. Now, JEA wants to raise utility rates by another $12.
JEA officials said Hurricane Katrina’s impact on the Gulf Coast put such a squeeze on fuel prices that they have no choice but to raise their rates again.
“Two things are happening: Fuel has come up more than we predicted when we had the increase, and that was before Katrina,” JEA Vice President of Marketing and Strategies Randy Boswell said. “And after Katrina, they have gone up 30 to 40 percent.”
If approved, the latest increase could cost the average customer an additional $12 per month. Including the latest increases, JEA customers are paying an additional $29 more monthly on their utility bills. That’s an additional $348 per year.
Massachussets
Mass. utility to seek jump of 28 percent
Request called biggest in 25 years
Massachusetts Electric Co., the state’s largest utility, said yesterday it will seek to raise rates for its 1.2 million customers by 28 percent starting in November because of soaring global energy prices.
The rate increase is the biggest sought by an electric utility in the state for at least 25 years, regulators said, and would cost the average homeowner $17.50 a month. Larger businesses, which normally pay higher rates than residential customers, could see increases as high as 50 percent.
New Hampshire
From school districts to shopping malls, Unitil Corp. is asking for an average 60 percent hike in electric rates for about 150 of its largest commercial and industrial customers because of rising fuel costs. Similar increases are possible in the coming months for both business and residential customers of Public Service of New Hampshire, according to an official with the Public Utilities Commission, which approves rate increases.
“The rate increase we’re seeing for Unitil customers is the largest increase we’ve seen in electric rates in the last 15 to 20 years,” said F. Anne Ross, the PUC’s consumer advocate. “It’s a warning signal and it’s certainly a sign to be careful about energy use going into the winter season.”
A PSNH spokesman doubted rates would surge as high as Unitil’s.
Granite State Electric, which serves the Salem area and parts of western New Hampshire, also is requesting rate hikes for 29 large New Hampshire business customers. The kilowatt-hour charge would change each month, rising 43 percent in November and by 81 percent in January, compared to current Granite State Electric figures.
Rhode Island
Narragansett Electric proposes 24 percent rate increase
October 9
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Islanders are dealing with high gasoline prices. They may be facing high electricity bills soon, too.
Narragansett Electric has proposed increasing rates by 24 percent, which, if approved, would raise rates to their highest level ever.
The request was made yesterday to the state Public Utilities Commission, and would take effect on October First. It’s believed to be the largest increase made by Narragansett Electric in at least 25 years.
The proposal would mean a typical customer would pay 184 dollars more a year.
The utility says the increase is necessary because energy costs have risen sharply recently, partly because of Hurricane Katrina.
On top of that, New England Gas has asked the P-U-C to raise rates by 13 percent.
South Carolina
SCE&G seeks 50 percent gas rate increase
September 24, 2005
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Consumers would pay 50 percent more for natural gas this winter under rates South Carolina Electric and Gas has proposed.
SCANA, SCE&G’s parent company, is asking the Public Service to allow it to raise the portion of customers’ bills that pays for gas by 57 percent on average. That would boost the average charge from $121 a month to $172, or 42 percent.
The state Office of Regulatory Staff will review the rate increase request. “I’ve been in the business a long time and I don’t recall anything of this size,” agency executive director Dukes Scott said. “In the winter time, when people start getting the bills, we’ll hear from them.”
Texas
CenterPoint, Reliant plan double-digit rate jumps
Two local utilities plan to dish out increases in electric and natural gas bills.
A typical customer of Reliant Energy, the city’s largest power provider, can expect to see bills go up by 14 percent beginning at the end of October. Another hike is expected Jan. 1.
And for the second time in two months, a typical customer of CenterPoint Energy will see natural gas bills grow, this time by 11 percent.
The increases are being blamed on skyrocketing natural gas prices, which have climbed 98 percent since early July.
Reliant asked the Texas Public Utility Commission on Monday to let it increase the so-called fuel factor it charges customers beginning as early as the end of October. The increase is expected to be approved.
This would increase Reliant’s per kilowatt hour rate from 12.88 cents to 14.70 cents. A bill for a home using 1,000 kwh per month would grow from $128.80 to $147.
On Jan. 1, the per kilowatt hour rate is expected to increase again, to 16.04 cents, representing another 9 percent increase in that monthly bill.
Reliant could have increased the price to 16.04 cents earlier, but it reached an agreement with the PUC to phase the increases in two steps, said Jim Robb, vice president of retail marketing.
Washington
PSE natural gas rates set to jump
2005-09-29
Puget Sound Energy customers will see their natural gas rates rise next month by nearly 14 percent — $11.31 a month for typical households — boosting the average monthly residential rate to $96.48.
The new rates, which take effect Saturday, are the highest ever charged for natural gas in this state, according to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, which announced its approval of the price hike Wednesday.
The increases are not related to recent hurricane damage in the Gulf Coast region, whose impact on natural gas prices here isn’t expected to be felt until next year.
Bellevue-based PSE, the state’s largest provider of natural gas, described the rate hike as a “pass-through” change, meaning that the company is not making any additional profit from charging the higher amount.
Dorothy Bracken, a spokeswoman for PSE, said the higher rate reflects what the utility company has been paying for the past six months to secure natural gas supplies from wholesale providers.
The cost for natural gas has been steadily going up for the past three years, Bracken said, attributing the price hikes to the “supply and demand phenomenon” in the energy market.
Wisconsin
WPS seeks 17% electric rate hike
Wisconsin Public Service Corp. on Thursday adjusted its 2006 request for an electric rate increase to 17.1 percent.
The Green Bay-based utility said the increase was prompted by higher natural gas prices. The natural gas in this case is used by Wisconsin Public Service and its suppliers as fuel for generating electricity, as opposed to the natural gas it distributes to people for heating their homes.
For a typical customer using 630 kilowatt hours, the monthly electricity bill would increase $11.19 per month.
The company added 5.7 percentage points to the earlier rate increase request.
And in Canada as well:
BC Utilities Commission approves October natural gas rate increase
September 15, 2005
The BC Utilities Commission approved a natural gas commodity rate increase today that will add about 13.3 per cent to the annual bill for a typical Terasen Gas residential customer in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Interior, North and Kootenays.
This works out to an annual increase of about $155 to $180 depending on consumption levels. The new rates take effect October 1, 2005. Delivery rates are not affected by this increase.
Natural gas rates in Fort Nelson will increase 28 per cent. Propane rates for Revelstoke will increase 13.3 per cent while propane rates in Whistler will rise 5.7 per cent.
Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast, and Powell River Squamish gas customers will see no rate change since they are covered by a different regulatory agreement.
Since June, natural gas commodity prices have risen more than 30 per cent, driven by increased demand brought on by a hot summer, the rising price of crude oil and disruptions to supply caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Thanks for this Jerome — depressing but not unexpected. We are entering the time of the year where we use neither air conditioning nor heat, and we are keeping out fingers crossed that we can stretch it out this year…we have a natural gas stove and clother dryer and even when we don’t use the heat (also natural gas) we pay between 30 and 50/month. Last winter out highest gas bill was $210 — twice as much as the highest bill the year before….
We have already decided that lots of layers of clothes and blankets with maybe a space heater in one room for sleeping and wood for the fireplace are going to be the way we go this winter….
Our highest untility bill (electric, water, and garbage pick up) this summer was $330, with most of that being electricity, of course, so I don’t think the heating will get as high as the AC. Either way, the prices are crippling!
Brin – Have you signed up for Green Choice? It may save you some money on next summer’s electric bill, though it costs a little more in the short run. I sent you an email about it.
Thanks, J., I haven’t, but I will read your email carefully…thanks!
discussed in the Your Credit – The October Surprise is Nigh diary, a lot of people will be leaving housing this winter.
While the traditional wisdom is that housing should cost no more than 25% of income, lenders have raised it to 40, and in the real world, an alarming number of people pay 50 and even more percent of their income to stay in housing.
With doubled utilities, and doubled credit card payments, they will simply not be able to do it.
Employers have not made any similar announcements that they will be doubling salaries and hourly wages.
For people fortunate enough to have any extra left over after meeting expenses, if you are inclined to help out your neighbors, there will be no shortage of need. Most communities have food banks and homeless shelters of some kind, whose capacity will be overloaded in a few months, if you don’t have money, maybe you can spare a few hours a week to volunteer.
Yes, anything you can do will be a drop in the bucket, but especially in northern areas where temperatures are low, an extra cot might mean that one less person will be turned away, and thus be able to survive one more night.
And conservatives like to remind us that people end up homeless because they want to be. I used to work with the homeless here in Calgary. 45-50% are employed. They simply can’t afford housing and the accompanying bills. I’d like to stick some of those conservatives out on the street for a few nites when the temperature reaches -30C.
I shopped the sales and thrift shops this fall with a cold house in mind. Now I’m on the lookout for bargain flannel sheets. I have cut out the long hot showers I used to love and am setting the therm way back. Your report makes me even more glad that I went almost the entire summer without ac. My highest electric bill for a tri-level house was only $60 in August, my lowest was $37 in June.
Now if I can only figure out how to keep my dog warm enough in the basement at night without using an expensive space heater. Anybody got any ideas? She can’t sleep with me because she can’t be trusted not to pee on the carpet.
Cheaper than heat.
Their warming bed looks like it might be a good idea for the basement.
A “warming bed,” eh? I won’t take up space with it here, but I’ll ask you more about that in the cafe, CG.
lol! Now if I can only get the mini Dachshund to grow a thicker coat.
Yes. It’s important that you have hot dogs in the winter time.
You guys are too funny! This is, of course, the perfect solution, given that my Lucy is a Dachshund.
Here’s what I want for Xmas: heated slippers.
Thanks for posting this. This is the big story of the winter. And it’s going to get a whole lot worse.
featured a story yesterday on booming firewood sales. With rates on fuel oil expected to rise 70% in VA, people are stocking up on their secondary heating option. Many homes in the foothills of the Blueridge have fireplaces or wood stoves, primarily for charm but also as a back-up during power outages. And at $80 per half-cord, wood is looking like a better value than heating oil. Hmmm… wonder if we’ll see a smoky haze over the Shenandoah Valley this winter?
And a depletion of forests? In COLLAPSE, Jerrod Diamond explains how Japan has kept its forests. . .by depleting all those forests in other countries.
Here in Tidewater VA,there is still a huge amount of downed timber from Hurricane Isabel which is now seasoned, and being sold for firewood. We just got four cords,which will heat us for most of the (admittedly mild) winter here.
You can always burn the New York Times. It’s not good for much else these days.
there aren’t five people in Lynchburg who get a hard copy of the NYT. But the local rag is just as useless. LOL!
Luckily, we in Canada and Alberta will be able to take advantage of government aid programs. Alberta has a rebate program
that kicks in when the price of natural gas reaches beyond $5.50/GJ and the federal gov’t recently announced more widespread measures:
…
The money will be used to help some 3.1 million low-income families and seniors pay their heating bills in the coming winter months, retrofit homes and public buildings with energy efficient windows and heating systems, and improve public transportation to reduce automobile use.
The government will also create an Office of Petroleum Price Information to monitor energy price fluctuations and prevent gouging at the pumps, officials said.
The Bush strategy: more homeless, they don’t have a place to heat.
Seems like a strange question, I know. Thing is, I have. Bombs, warheads, missiles, mines. Every time I see the three words seventy-one percent I think of the times of the magazine loads, these smooth, compact shapes that seemed so innocuous, but God help you if the warhead went off.
Seventy-one percent is going to go off in approximately 40 days in California. It’s just an incredible number with curling shock waves and I have no idea if 60 days warning was enough. It’s the unexpected costs, grad school econ faintly warns, that bleed you down.
Clear, gorgeous stars this morning, but it’s Oct. 9th and millions of heating systems will trip over to daily status any day now. The attic was properly re-insulated Friday, and the walls are getting done the 18th (pg & e suddenly has rebate money). I got fluorescent replacements for the last two vantity incandescents in the bathroom yesterday. The windows are double-paned, I fixed the seal on the front door. [sigh] I am still in for a but-reamin’ ripper of a heating bill this winter I am grateful I will be able to pay.
Many can not and will not. Amazing how being cold all winter can fuck up a boy’s head. How many souls will we permanently consign to resentment this season from brutally cold neglect in this land of plenty?
Maybe, perhaps, just maybe, for once public conciousness will focus on the insanity of our energy abuses. Detroit got utterly smashed last month, of course. GM lied to me last night, watching a football game, that the new $30,000 Impala with a small v-8 block gets 48 mpg hwy in their tests. Really. 48.
Well, I know 71 is a real number. Mayber that will stop the lying and denial in that absurd claim of 48 mpg. I hope so.
I mean, it wouldn’t be so bad if I knew we were in a real bad spot but at least making tiny steps to make it better. But nothing will happen in at least the next three years to make it better, maybe. It’s this constant lying, sitting around with our thumbs up our asses in this pathetic squat of regression that creases me so.
It’s no sin to have fucked up badly and to be in a hard place. But for christ’s sake it really is wrong to lie about it for so long.
A V-8 that gets 48 mpg? How’d they supposedly pull that off?
They were careful to state, if one was listening, that they were private GM tests, not EPA.
See, the prez can lay whopper turds of dishonesty out there week after week so we can too.
This is precisely what will do this country in: the complete inability to honestyly see and correct problems.
GM. Flynt Michigan, our own little corner of Afghanistan. I’m not exagerating in the least.
Chrysler did okay last month, but they’re a foreign company now. GM and Ford got the holy shit beat out of them by Honda, Toyota and Nissan. Bondad had the numbers at MaryScott’s place.
We needed those sales for our people. We needed the efficiency for our planet and species. We only lie to ourselves every day, still.
almost everyone worries about. Fuel oil prices this winter will kill some, bankrupt many and hurt practically all of us.
Yet George Will was on TV this AM saying the Democrats have no issue regarding the economy because it’s in great shape.
It’s like living in the Bizarro World.
And that top 25% income tier tends to largely overlay with US political class, voters, volunteers, small contributors.
That is, in practical terms “the market.”
The bottom 75% and politicians, regardless of party have nothing to say to each other, nothing to offer each other, and frankly, there is much more cheap labor than is needed to serve the affluent, especially as their numbers decrease, and non-security business activity, like the middle class, is phased out.
Hurricanes cannot be counted on to impact every area of the country with large concentrations of poor.
I didn’t see this mentioned in the list, but it’s a pretty big hike. Many people are leaving Long Island because they can’t afford to live here anymore. Kids get out of college and quickly find out that they are completely unprepared to survive here on their own. We’ve decided that our kids can stay with us as long as they need to, but as a partnership in survival. Sad.
http://www.lipower.org/newscenter/pr/2005/sept30.surcharge.html
I have been half-joking, half-seriously, saying that it might be time to open Refugee Camp Shycat.