Quote

NEW YORK (AP) — Get ready to pay sharply higher bills for heating this winter, along with seemingly everything else.

With prices surging worldwide for heating oil, natural gas and other fuels, the U.S. government said Wednesday it expects households to see their heating bills jump as much as 54% compared to last winter.

Nearly half the homes in the U.S. use natural gas for heat, and they could pay an average $746 this winter, 30% more than a year ago. Those in the Midwest could get particularly pinched, with bills up an estimated 49%, and this could be the most expensive winter for natural-gas heated homes since 2008-2009.

The second-most used heating source for homes is electricity, making up 41% of the country, and those households could see a more modest 6% increase to $1,268. Homes using heating oil, which make up 4% of the country, could see a 43% increase — more than $500 — to $1,734. The sharpest increases are likely for homes that use propane, which account for 5% of U.S. households.

This winter is forecast to be slightly colder across the country than last year. That means people will likely be burning more fuel to keep warm, on top of paying more for each bit of it. If the winter ends up being even colder than forecast, heating bills could be higher than estimated, and vice-versa.

The forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is the latest reminder of the higher inflation ripping across the global economy. Earlier Wednesday, the government released a separate report showing that prices were 5.4% higher for U.S. consumers in September than a year ago. That matches the hottest inflation rate since 2008, as a reawakening economy and snarled supply chains push up prices for everything from cars to groceries.
The higher prices hit everyone, with pay raises for most workers so far failing to keep up with inflation. But they hurt low-income households in particular.

“After the beating that people have taken in the pandemic, it’s like: What’s next?” said Carol Hardison, chief executive officer at Crisis Assistance Ministry, which helps people in Charlotte, North Carolina, who are facing financial hardship.

She said households coming in for assistance recently have had unpaid bills that are roughly twice as big as they were before the pandemic. They’re contending with more expensive housing, higher medical bills and sometimes a reduction in their hours worked.

“It’s what we know about this pandemic: It’s hit the same people that were already struggling with wages not keeping up with the cost of living,” she said.

To make ends meet, families are cutting deeply. Nearly 22% of Americans had to reduce or forego expenses for basic necessities, such as medicine or food, to pay an energy bill in at least one of the last 12 months, according to a September survey by the U.S. Census Bureau.

“This is going to create significant hardship for people in the bottom third of the country,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association. “You can tell them to cut back and try to turn down the heat at night, but many low-income families already do that. Energy was already unaffordable to them.”

Many of those families are just now getting through a hot summer where they faced high air-conditioning bills.

Congress apportions some money to energy assistance programs for low-income households, but directors of those programs are now watching their purchasing power shrink as fuel costs keep climbing, Wolfe said.

The biggest reason for this winter’s higher heating bills is the recent surge in prices for energy commodities after they dropped to multi-year lows in 2020. Demand has simply grown faster than production as the economy roars back to life following shutdowns caused by the coronavirus.

Natural gas in the United States, for example, has climbed to its highest price since 2014 and is up roughly 90% over the last year. The wholesale price of heating oil, meanwhile, has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

Another reason for the rise is how global the market for fuels has become. In Europe, strong demand and limited supplies have sent natural gas prices up more than 350% this year. That’s pushing some of the natural gas produced in the United States to head for ships bound for other countries, adding upward pressure on domestic prices as well.

The amount of natural gas in storage inventories is relatively low, according to Barclays analyst Amarpreet Singh. That means there’s less of a cushion heading into winter heating season.

Heating oil prices, meanwhile, are tied closely to the price of crude oil, which has climbed more than 60% this year. Homes affected by those increases are primarily in the Northeast, where the percentage of homes using heating oil has dropped to 18% from 27% over the past decade.

___

AP Writer David Sharp contributed from Portland, Maine.

https://apnews.com/article/business-prices-inflation-28e1231bdb445d482bb2d2e25dff1983

Going to be an expensive winter to heat your home, put gas in your truck, and non-oxy in your sled.  If we have a cold winter it is going to get even worse.

5 minutes ago, Rigid1 said:

Even better how did the cardboard box get made, the tape on your box, the paper your label was on get made let alone what's inside if everything was closed in 2020?? Those Kiebler elves or something??

FYI, I just looked my sales were up 36.3% in 2020..we don't do online sales..

Again, we were talking about gasoline demand and the drop in prices. Stay at home orders reduced traffic in just about every state. That drove down demand, which in turn drove down gas prices. What you're giggling about I have no idea. I didn't say every business was shutdown. There were "essential workers" that went about business as usual. The overall drop in automotive traffic though, drove down demand. Whether or not your boxes got made or you had record sales, has no bearing on that whatsoever.

1 minute ago, SShooterZ said:

Again, we were talking about gasoline demand and the drop in prices. Stay at home orders reduced traffic in just about every state. That drove down demand, which in turn drove down gas prices. What you're giggling about I have no idea. I didn't say every business was shutdown. There were "essential workers" that went about business as usual. The overall drop in automotive traffic though, drove down demand. Whether or not your boxes got made or you had record sales, has no bearing on that whatsoever.

 

55 minutes ago, SShooterZ said:

Pretty simple, supply and demand. There was no demand last year. Everything was shut down. Now demand is higher, and the industry is recovering to meet demand after it shut down due to C19 and lack of demand. OPEC isn't helping either. Will be interesting to see if we tap the "emergency reserves" to keep the prices steady or lowered.

We were on the topic of automotive travel. Do I need to spell it out for you moving forward?

Wait, let me throw this in since you seem to communicate better with these. 

3 minutes ago, SShooterZ said:

We were on the topic of automotive travel. Do I need to spell it out for you moving forward?

When you ordered online, how the fuck does it get to your house, a magic fucking carpet?? How does the product get to the distribution hub or store? Another magic fucking carpet, I do 1300-1500 a week of windshield time traffic has been normal for well over 18 months.. But anyway, let's go with your fantasy, since traffic is as normal today as it was in 2018 and I will agree for a couple months traffic was down while traveling, but definitely not all of 2020 as you claim..When should we be seeing fuel costs go down to sub $2/gal levels?? In 2-3 months?? In 4-6 months?? or once Biden is out of office??

36 minutes ago, Rigid1 said:

When you ordered online, how the fuck does it get to your house, a magic fucking carpet?? How does the product get to the distribution hub or store? Another magic fucking carpet, I do 1300-1500 a week of windshield time traffic has been normal for well over 18 months.. But anyway, let's go with your fantasy, since traffic is as normal today as it was in 2018 and I will agree for a couple months traffic was down while traveling, but definitely not all of 2020 as you claim..When should we be seeing fuel costs go down to sub $2/gal levels?? In 2-3 months?? In 4-6 months?? or once Biden is out of office??

So let's walk through this since I can tell you're getting frustrated with facts.

If traffic dropped, say at any time in 2020, anywhere from 10%-50%, in any state, does that automatically mean delivery drivers stopped driving and delivering? Did you not see that UPS, FedEx and USPS drivers were deemed essential workers? Wouldn't that mean they still had to go drive their vehicles? Now, let's move to the subject of non-essential workers. Literally millions of people transitioned from travelling to their workplace, to working from home. The technology demand was insane trying to meet the demand of a workforce that was working from home now instead of traveling to an office. Do you think that maybe, JUST maybe, a little less gasoline was used by the nation when people were working in their homes? Or did they drive around the block and come back to their houses to they could pretend they were driving to work??

Now, with the reduction in demand, and the effect from C19 itself on the workforce, doesn't it make sense that the oil industry reduced workforce and production? Or do you think they just paid people to stand around when not needed, not counting for labor lost to the virus? Now, as shelter at home has been lifted for some time, and people are more comfortable traveling, don't you think demand has risen this year? Do you think the oil refineries just turned the dial up a little and all of a sudden they were at pre-C19 workforce and production capabilities. I'm sure none of the people that were laid off didn't find other jobs and instead just waited for the refineries to call right? Hint: The entire industry was disrupted. This included countries the US does business with in importing oil as well. Globally the demand for oil fell off a cliff. It is now recovering, and like we're seeing with a LOT of different products and materials, there are issues. Hence the reason the price has been rising.

Why you continually equate an entire industry to what you experience is the perfect example of "if is doesn't affect me, it must not be real". It's a logical fallacy. 

And traffic is not the same as it was in 2018. Many industries have moved to a work from home model. Another note, gas prices in 2018 were higher earlier in the year than 2020 and now sit around 10% lower than where they're at now. Not bad considering what has globally happened to the oil industry. (But, but, BIDEN!!!)


 

Edited October 15, 20213 yr by SShooterZ

31 minutes ago, SShooterZ said:

So let's walk through this since I can tell you're getting frustrated with facts.

If traffic dropped, say at any time in 2020, anywhere from 10%-50%, in any state, does that automatically mean delivery drivers stopped driving and delivering? Did you not see that UPS, FedEx and USPS drivers were deemed essential workers? Wouldn't that mean they still had to go drive their vehicles? Now, let's move to the subject of non-essential workers. Literally millions of people transitioned from travelling to their workplace, to working from home. The technology demand was insane trying to meet the demand of a workforce that was working from home now instead of traveling to an office. Do you think that maybe, JUST maybe, a little less gasoline was used by the nation when people were working in their homes? Or did they drive around the block and come back to their houses to they could pretend they were driving to work??

Now, with the reduction in demand, and the effect from C19 itself on the workforce, doesn't it make sense that the oil industry reduced workforce and production? Or do you think they just paid people to stand around when not needed, not counting for labor lost to the virus? Now, as shelter at home has been lifted for some time, and people are more comfortable traveling, don't you think demand has risen this year? Do you think the oil refineries just turned the dial up a little and all of a sudden they were at pre-C19 workforce and production capabilities. I'm sure none of the people that were laid off didn't find other jobs and instead just waited for the refineries to call right? Hint: The entire industry was disrupted. This included countries the US does business with in importing oil as well. Globally the demand for oil fell off a cliff. It is now recovering, and like we're seeing with a LOT of different products and materials, there are issues. Hence the reason the price has been rising.

Why you continually equate an entire industry to what you experience is the perfect example of "if is doesn't affect me, it must not be real". It's a logical fallacy. 

And traffic is not the same as it was in 2018. Many industries have moved to a work from home model. Another note, gas prices in 2018 were higher earlier in the year than 2020 and now sit around 10% lower than where they're at now. Not bad considering what has globally happened to the oil industry. (But, but, BIDEN!!!)


 

Ouch. 

1 hour ago, Rigid1 said:

If everything was closed how did HD get the product, how did the product get manufactured, checked in, put in it's area, then your order processed, a pick ticket shot out, it picked and packaged, it shipped, it picked up, and it get delivered all by a closed business??

Just stop, your arguing with the work from home laptop crowd.

6 minutes ago, teamgreen02 said:

Just stop, your arguing with the work from home laptop crowd.

I know, it's funny, he goes from everything was closed in 2020 to I never said everything was closed in 2020..the libs are just fucking wacked in the head

1 hour ago, SShooterZ said:

So let's walk through this since I can tell you're getting frustrated with facts.

If traffic dropped, say at any time in 2020, anywhere from 10%-50%, in any state, does that automatically mean delivery drivers stopped driving and delivering? Did you not see that UPS, FedEx and USPS drivers were deemed essential workers? Wouldn't that mean they still had to go drive their vehicles? Now, let's move to the subject of non-essential workers. Literally millions of people transitioned from travelling to their workplace, to working from home. The technology demand was insane trying to meet the demand of a workforce that was working from home now instead of traveling to an office. Do you think that maybe, JUST maybe, a little less gasoline was used by the nation when people were working in their homes? Or did they drive around the block and come back to their houses to they could pretend they were driving to work??

Now, with the reduction in demand, and the effect from C19 itself on the workforce, doesn't it make sense that the oil industry reduced workforce and production? Or do you think they just paid people to stand around when not needed, not counting for labor lost to the virus? Now, as shelter at home has been lifted for some time, and people are more comfortable traveling, don't you think demand has risen this year? Do you think the oil refineries just turned the dial up a little and all of a sudden they were at pre-C19 workforce and production capabilities. I'm sure none of the people that were laid off didn't find other jobs and instead just waited for the refineries to call right? Hint: The entire industry was disrupted. This included countries the US does business with in importing oil as well. Globally the demand for oil fell off a cliff. It is now recovering, and like we're seeing with a LOT of different products and materials, there are issues. Hence the reason the price has been rising.

Why you continually equate an entire industry to what you experience is the perfect example of "if is doesn't affect me, it must not be real". It's a logical fallacy. 

And traffic is not the same as it was in 2018. Many industries have moved to a work from home model. Another note, gas prices in 2018 were higher earlier in the year than 2020 and now sit around 10% lower than where they're at now. Not bad considering what has globally happened to the oil industry. (But, but, BIDEN!!!)


 

Cool story bro, so when's gas going back down?? Everything is wide open now..People are traveling all over again..When's it gonna happen?? 

And why is my home heating oil so high priced, it doesn't run in a car and obviously with people home they they are consuming more, same with NG and propane?. Why so high?? People we're home and consumed more??

9 minutes ago, Rigid1 said:

I know, it's funny, he goes from everything was closed in 2020 to I never said everything was closed in 2020..the libs are just fucking wacked in the head

Again, the topic was fuel costs. Not my fault you can’t follow a topic.

2 minutes ago, Rigid1 said:

Cool story bro, so when's gas going back down?? Everything is wide open now..People are traveling all over again..When's it gonna happen?? 

And why is my home heating oil so high priced, it doesn't run in a car and obviously with people home they they are consuming more, same with NG and propane?. Why so high?? People we're home and consumed more??

Easy. When supply catches up.

Is home oil processed through the same refineries? I honestly don’t know, but if it is, see above.

20 minutes ago, teamgreen02 said:

Just stop, your arguing with the work from home laptop crowd.

Too many facts for you too?

1 minute ago, SShooterZ said:

Again, the topic was fuel costs. Not my fault you can’t follow a topic.

You fucking idiot, read the fucking title to the thread.. 

3 hours ago, ActionfigureJoe said:

If you bitch about a few more dollars to fill your sled’s tank, then you can’t afford to snowmobile. 

Right there I know you ride alone . Do you ride with your wife ? to ride with one kid two kid three kids four kids or 3 or four kids and a wife? Then you’ll say you should either make more money or not ride with your kids. Skiing ? 80 per person per day. How about that gas in the truck that you need to do work out of that’s extra hundred a week. If You’re not an average American don’t talk like you are.

Not all people do things on their own. There are things called families.

 

And btw, everything else is up too. Makes it real hard for lots of folks. And since when is an issue for people wanting to save as much money as they can and keep as much of their money as they come?

 

Edited October 15, 20213 yr by CFM

1 minute ago, SShooterZ said:

Easy. When supply catches up.

Is home oil processed through the same refineries? I honestly don’t know, but if it is, see above.

Last time I checked, propane and NG do not come from an oil refinery..I could be wrong, but pretty sure I'm right

Just called a propane supplier to get a set date on switching my tank at the cabin from another provider. Now mind you I called a couple of weeks ago and the new customer price was $1.49 a gallon. Today that price was $2.09 a gallon. $.60 difference in 2 weeks. Unreal......

4 hours ago, SShooterZ said:

Curious, how did Biden drive up gas prices?

 

4 hours ago, Rigid1 said:

I think the better question would be what is the Biden admin doing or not doing that the Trump admin did to lower fuel and energy costs??

 

1 hour ago, Rigid1 said:

You fucking idiot, read the fucking title to the thread.. 

JFC Is that ADHD?

2 minutes ago, SShooterZ said:

 

 

JFC Is that ADHD?

Damn,  twice in 1 thread..Epic! 

 

5 minutes ago, Rigid1 said:

Damn,  twice in 1 thread..Epic! 

 

Pat yourself on the back legend. 

6 hours ago, ActionfigureJoe said:

If you bitch about a few more dollars to fill your sled’s tank, then you can’t afford to snowmobile. 

You truly are an idiot . Snowmobiling is a recreational sport. 

I am talking about families that cant afford to put $20 more each tank just to get to work , get the kids to school or activities, fuel prices drive up cost of food and everything else for these middle class and lower class families that are STRUGGLING....

As far as me dude I fill up my Boat with a 90 Gallon tank this summer every weekend. It sucks to pay 3x more than what it costed just a year ago dont care who you are.... Does that mean I cannot afford to drive it or cant afford to fill my sled and ride that this winter ? Absolutely not!  Still sucks to spend more money for no reason MORON!  But again YOU DONT SNOWMOBILE so your opinion is SHIT. 🤦‍♂️😂

4 minutes ago, EvilBird said:

You truly are an idiot . Snowmobiling is a recreational sport. 

I am talking about families that cant afford to put $20 more each tank just to get to work , get the kids to school or activities, fuel prices drive up cost of food and everything else for these middle class and lower class families that are STRUGGLING....

As far as me dude I fill up my Boat with a 90 Gallon tank this summer every weekend. It sucks to pay 3x more than what it costed just a year ago dont care who you are.... Does that mean I cannot afford to drive it or cant afford to fill my sled and ride that this winter ? Absolutely not!  Still sucks to spend more money for no reason MORON!  But again YOU DONT SNOWMOBILE so your opinion is SHIT. 🤦‍♂️😂

The trails will be less congested. 

4 hours ago, Rigid1 said:

When you ordered online, how the fuck does it get to your house, a magic fucking carpet?? How does the product get to the distribution hub or store? Another magic fucking carpet, I do 1300-1500 a week of windshield time traffic has been normal for well over 18 months.. But anyway, let's go with your fantasy, since traffic is as normal today as it was in 2018 and I will agree for a couple months traffic was down while traveling, but definitely not all of 2020 as you claim..When should we be seeing fuel costs go down to sub $2/gal levels?? In 2-3 months?? In 4-6 months?? or once Biden is out of office??

 When Biden is out of office would be a great start...

 

1 minute ago, ActionfigureJoe said:

The trails will be less congested. 

Doubt it. Last year was insane and we were not even supposed to travel. This year will be the same. If you rode you might have a clue. 

4 hours ago, SShooterZ said:

So let's walk through this since I can tell you're getting frustrated with facts.

If traffic dropped, say at any time in 2020, anywhere from 10%-50%, in any state, does that automatically mean delivery drivers stopped driving and delivering? Did you not see that UPS, FedEx and USPS drivers were deemed essential workers? Wouldn't that mean they still had to go drive their vehicles? Now, let's move to the subject of non-essential workers. Literally millions of people transitioned from travelling to their workplace, to working from home. The technology demand was insane trying to meet the demand of a workforce that was working from home now instead of traveling to an office. Do you think that maybe, JUST maybe, a little less gasoline was used by the nation when people were working in their homes? Or did they drive around the block and come back to their houses to they could pretend they were driving to work??

Now, with the reduction in demand, and the effect from C19 itself on the workforce, doesn't it make sense that the oil industry reduced workforce and production? Or do you think they just paid people to stand around when not needed, not counting for labor lost to the virus? Now, as shelter at home has been lifted for some time, and people are more comfortable traveling, don't you think demand has risen this year? Do you think the oil refineries just turned the dial up a little and all of a sudden they were at pre-C19 workforce and production capabilities. I'm sure none of the people that were laid off didn't find other jobs and instead just waited for the refineries to call right? Hint: The entire industry was disrupted. This included countries the US does business with in importing oil as well. Globally the demand for oil fell off a cliff. It is now recovering, and like we're seeing with a LOT of different products and materials, there are issues. Hence the reason the price has been rising.

Why you continually equate an entire industry to what you experience is the perfect example of "if is doesn't affect me, it must not be real". It's a logical fallacy. 

And traffic is not the same as it was in 2018. Many industries have moved to a work from home model. Another note, gas prices in 2018 were higher earlier in the year than 2020 and now sit around 10% lower than where they're at now. Not bad considering what has globally happened to the oil industry. (But, but, BIDEN!!!)


 

Backpeddle that shit man you got this! 😂😂😂🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Edit: Just heard Jen Psaki...You literally used her talking points word for word. You dems just regurgitate everything you hear on TV. 😂😂😂

Edited October 15, 20213 yr by EvilBird