Heating and energy bills to soar





	Energy and Heating Bills To Soar Winter heating and energy bills for natural gas, heating oil, and electricity are expected to soar to new records, putting a renewed freeze on household budgets and reinforcing the need to conserve electricity. Heating oil customers are anticipating seeing the largest increases, according to the Energy Information Administration, which is the the nonpartisan statistical arm of the United States Energy Department. Heating oil users will pay almost $2,700 to heat their homes this winter, which is up 36.9% from last year. Homeowners with natural gas, which is the most popular heating source in the USA, will pay $1,100, or a 24% increase. This is all according to the EIA's early forecast. Find ways to conserve with heating and cooling. The EIA's current projections are based on numerous government meteorologists' expectations for a winter in 2008 that is colder than last year but warmer than the average winter that was seen from 1971 to 2000. An especially cold winter would hit household budgets even harder. If these dire government predictions come true, homeowners will spend about $23 billion more to heat their homes and pay their electricity bills this winter than they did last year, estimates Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. The government will be providing more advice to homeowners on how to conserve electricity.

Energy and Heating Bills To Soar