Winter Heating Bills Likely To Increase Dramaticallly
Whether you heat your home with gas, oil or electricity, your heating bills will likely be a lot higher this winter.
According to a recent U.S. government report, homeowners will pay an average of 48 percent more to heat their homes this year, with some areas of the country seeing their bills grow by more than 60 percent, depending on the type of fuel they use.
Homeowners who heat their homes with natural gas, which represent about 55 percent of total U.S. households, are expected to see the biggest bill increases, with an average rise of about 48 percent.
Homeowners who use oil should expect to pay about 32 percent more.
Electricity users are the fortunate ones this winter, as their heating bills are expected to increase by just 5 percent.
Ominously, these estimates are based on a forecast of warmer than average winter temperatures (from October through March).
If winter temperatures turn out to be colder than expected, heating bill increases could be significantly higher.
The reasons for the big heating bill estimates are tight international supplies of crude oil and a sharp reduction in oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico due to damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
A possible counterweight to this gloomy forecast could result if energy demand is reduced due to high prices.
Some research indicates that overall demand for energy for the remainder of 2005 should be below 2004 levels.
If this proves to be true, and the overall energy supply does not decrease further than expected, these price increases may not be as severe as predicted.
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