|
MoneyGeek, the financial planning website, has ranked Illinois
No. 1 among states with the highest projected residential winter
heating bills.
Anja Solum, data journalism manager for MoneyGeek, said the
average natural gas heating cost for Illinois households this
winter is expected to be $133 a month. That is $5 monthly more
than residents in No. 2 ranked Oklahoma can expect to pay.
The good news is that natural gas prices have dropped from the
highs that we saw last year. Illinois residents can expect to
pay $35 less per month for home heating this winter than they
did last winter when Illinois households paid an average of $168
a month for natural gas.
MoneyGeek used projections from the U.S. Energy Information
Administration to rank states by heating cost, Solum said.
“EIA tracks the number of households that are using natural
gas,” Solum said. “We compared that to the retail prices for
residential customers.”
Heating costs in Illinois’ neighboring states are considerably
lower. The average household cost in No. 8 Michigan is $106 a
month. In Indiana, at No. 25, bills average $74 a month. At No.
26 Wisconsin, residents pay an average of $72 a month. For the
complete list of ranked states, go to the MoneyGeek
website.
People with sealed/insulated houses and energy-efficient
furnaces will have lower bills. So will people who use
programmable thermostats to turn their heat down when they are
asleep and when they are at work.
For tips and links to heating assistance programs, visit the
Keep Warm Illinois website at
KeepWarm.Illinois.gov.
Natural gas prices go through periodic price spikes for many
reasons, Solum said. Everything from the war in Ukraine to
Hurricane Ida that shut down natural gas refineries can affect
the natural gas supply. The relatively mild 2022 winter is also
attributed for the build-up of natural gas reserves that have
allowed prices to come down in 2023.
|
|
