Polar "Poor"-Tex >> Frigid temperatures heat up home utility bills

First came the deep cold, then sharply higher heating bills.



Bone-chilling temperatures have rattled consumers across the nation since mid-December. Bitter cold is likely to linger over the Northeast and Midwest, and unseasonably low temperatures are forecast for the Southeast, so millions of consumers who've seen skyrocketing utility bills are likely to see another spike in January and February.



The Energy Information Administration predicted that more than 90% of the nation's 116 million homes would have higher heating bills this winter, projecting rises of 2% (for those heating with electricity) to 13% (natural gas). Homes heated with propane were expected to spend 9% more than last year, while those using heating oil were expected to get a 2% price break. Those estimates came in October, before two-decade-low temperatures, rising demand and lower energy stockpiles gripped much of the nation. Revised EIA estimates from earlier this month peg some home heating bills rising as much as 23.5% in the Midwest. But even those estimates may be too low.



"I don't think they factored in the polar vortex or what's happening now,'' says Steve Schork of energy markets tracker The Schork Report, who says extended cold temperatures could push winter utility bills to their highest levels since 2008.





Friday, the price of natural gas - used to heat more than half the nation's homes - jumped to its highest levels since 2010. It's jumped nearly 30% this month alone. Propane, the primary heat source in 6 million homes and 2 million businesses, is also soaring, and in some tight Midwest markets, is trading at nearly $5 a gallon.

 



<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/01/23/frigid-temperatures-heating-up-home-heating-bills/4777795/">http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/01/23/frigid-temperatures-heating-up-home-heating-bills/4777795/</a>