I just got my latest heating bill. Gah! Let’s just say that it’s more than double any bill from last year. However, it’s about the same as bills from the winter before that, which was extraordinarily cold.

According to the handy graphs provided by PECO, we did use more energy this year, but not an astronomical amount more. The average temperature was a bit lower this year compared to last, but again, not by much. Now, we were warned that prices were going up. This year, electricity is costing us about $.07/kwh and gas is costing us about $1.20/hundred cubic foot (Ccf). I could only find costs from July, which show that electricity was the same, but gas was $.87/Ccf. But that’s summer and often gas costs are lower in the summer anyway. If anyone has any info, that would be great.

We have a little buffer in our budget, plus savings we can draw on if necessary, but a lot of people don’t. I wonder how they’re dealing with this. My guess is, they’re not. Some may have signed up for programs that reduce their costs, but I know a lot of people fall through the cracks for these programs.

Either someone needs to admit that these prices are arbitrarily set by greedy oil companies or that there really is a decreased supply. Either way, I can direct my actions appropriately.