The cost of home heating is expected to rise considerably this winter, but with utilities unable to obtain credit, Washington deadlocked on how to deal with it, and LIHEAP underfunded American households are in for a tough winter.
[T]he price of natural gas is 11 percent above where it was last winter. Heating oil is 36 percent higher, with the government projecting that the costs of both fuels will stay high. Electricity prices are also up moderately. Higher heating costs will hit particularly hard in the Northeast, where many people use heating oil.
Given how unpredictable energy markets have become, most fuel dealers are not offering their customers price protection plans, or locked rates, as they typically do at this time of the year, said Dan Gilligan, president of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, the biggest trade group for fuel retailers.
At last year's financing level of $2.5 billion, only 16 percent of households eligible for energy aid received money from the program, called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and known as Liheap."
FULL STORY: Home Energy Prices Are Expected to Soar
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
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Judge Halts Brooklyn Bike Lane Removal
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Engineers Gave America's Roads an Almost Failing Grade — Why Aren't We Fixing Them?
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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