Sawt Falasteen - Higher heating costs add to US affordability crunch

So Marchiano, who also lacks the budget to replace drafty old windows, avoids the colder rooms.

The heating bill is yet another cost pressure facing many Americans like Marchiano, who says prices are "outrageous" for groceries and other staples.

"I try to survive," said the 61-year-old, who lives on a fixed income. "Like everyone else, I worry about bills."

Even before winter started, consumer advocates sounded the alarm on higher heating costs in light of torrid electricity demand growth and costly revamps of pipes and other infrastructure that have led to utility rate hikes.

US households are expected to spend $995 on heating this winter, an increase of 9.2 percent from last year, according to a December forecast from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA).

Of course, the final tally will depend on the weather. So far, the 2025-26 season has been a bear in Philadelphia, with forecasts of an arctic blast and a potential blizzard expected to boost usage further.

Through mid-January, the average temperature in Philadelphia was 36.2, the sixth coldest since the year 2000 and about six degrees colder than the winter of 2023-24, said Chad Merrill, a meteorologist at Accuweather.

- Assistance programs -

Pennsylvania bars utilities from shutting off low-income consumers during the winter months. But consumers who fall behind can face a shutoff once the moratorium ends at the end of March.

"It catches up to you," Luz Laboy, who assists low-income consumers through a maze of assistance programs, said of consumers who don't pay winter bills. She works at Hunting Park Neighborhood Advisory Committee, an NGO in North Philadelphia.

Qualifying consumers are eligible for federal assistance through the US Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which pays an annual stipend, as well as crisis funding that provides grants of up to $1,000.

Other Pennsylvania programs allow consumers with large balances to establish a monthly payment plan or to apply to repair broken radiators.

Jose Rosario, 75, a retiree who lives on his monthly Social Security check of $1,038 and pays $375 to rent his basement apartment, came to the NGO for help completing his LIHEAP application and managing a $4,000 gas balance.

Also there was Linda Croskey, who has borrowed heaters from her sister after her nearly 70-year-old system broke down. Staffers at the NGO think a replacement is likely given the age of the equipment.

Croskey, 61, made too much income in prior years for LIHEAP. But she spent much of last year taking care of her husband, who suffered a stroke, meaning she made less in her job as an insurance broker.

"It is what it is, I am not mad about anything," she said. "I just hope to have heat."

- Middle-class hit -

Laboy said this winter's number of applicants for LIHEAP is about the same as last year, but the process has been more fraught.

"It is a lot more stressful this year," said Laboy, noting the program was delayed by the US government shutdown.

US President Donald Trump's administration eliminated the Washington LIHEAP staff in the spring and had initially sought to zero out funding. But Congress ultimately maintained funding for the program.

Seth Blumsack, a professor of energy and environmental economics at Pennsylvania State University, tied this winter's increase in natural gas prices mainly to costs associated with replacing aging infrastructure.

This is also a factor behind higher electricity rates, although a bigger driver is the growth of energy-guzzling data centers, he said.

"Electricity demand in the US is increasing...in ways we have not seen in decades," said Blumsack, who pointed to the retirements of older generation units as another factor.

The issue resonates with Pennsylvania lawmakers like Representative Heather Boyd. Boyd's most recent electric and gas bill was for $860, up from $660 the prior month, for a 1,400 square foot home in suburban Philadelphia, she said at a hearing Tuesday on energy affordability.

"When I can't pay that, my community can't pay that," she said.

The cost-of-living struggle means "it's not just the poorest families" strained by higher heating prices," said NEADA executive director Mark Wolfe. "It's affecting middle-class families, which is why it's becoming a political issue."

O.Farraj--SF-PST