"For nearly 16 million American families the struggle to heat
their home this winter will hit the crisis point in early summer.
According to a report on CNN's Lou Dobbs Report, 15.5 million
people are at least 30 days behind on their heating bills. While
company's are prohibited from shutting off energy in the winter
months, the advent of warm weather means many of those families
will now have their utility shut off.
The problem is no longer seen just in low income families. With
record energy prices, unemployment or underemployment, the
problem is creeping into working and middle class families. These
are people who have always paid their bills regularly and whose
heating costs are just one of the soaring costs of living.
"Going into 2008, we had expected oil prices to start easing,"
says Tancred Lidderdale, analyst for the U.S. Energy Information
Administration. But the close match between global oil supply and
demand - the tight market - means geopolitical tensions and
market worries can have a large impact on price, he says. "And
all the tightness in the market is showing up in heating oil"
when it is in peak demand, Lidderdale says.
The federal assistance program, LIHEAP, which provides funds to
states to help families pay winter heating costs, has been
serving a steadily increasing number of families since the
program began in 1980. However Congressional appropriations for
the program have not kept up with the increases in energy costs.
The 5.8 million families who receive energy grants represent only
16 percent of the families eligible for the program. To try to
stretch the limited funds,the amount of the grant awarded to each
family has decreased, leaving even these families barely able to
make it through the cold months. Many will not have enough money
to avoid having their energy cut off this summer. In those cases,
the cutoffs will affect cooking, air conditioning, and hot water.
Families who receive federal energy assistance account for only
one-third of those facing shut offs. And a large number of
families are exhausting their savings and credit lines to avoid
shuts offs. A survey by CreditCards.com found that nearly 9
percent of Americans - an estimated 20 million consumers - use
credit cards to pay heating bills this winter. However, unless
they are able to keep up with the credit card debt, that solution
may not be available next winter.
Check back for Part 2 for the continuation of Energy Crisis.
Recent Comments