Rising Heating Costs Force Northeast Families to Choose Between Warmth and Groceries This Winter

Charmaine Johnson spends her working days on the phone at the Heater Hotline in Philadelphia, a program run by a non-profit that helps low-income families with their heating systems and bills. The calls she takes are about money and cold. At 63, she knows them from the inside, because she is struggling to pay her own heating bills too.

With help from her son, Johnson recently paid more than $1,000 to fill part of her oil tank, and she hopes it will carry her through most of the winter. She says she does not qualify for government help with heating costs. Inflation has also raised her food budget and other expenses, so she bundles up and keeps the thermostat low to stretch the oil. "It's miserable," she said. "It's like living in an igloo."

Her situation reflects a wider squeeze as the first frigid weather of autumn settles over the Northeast. According to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, home heating prices are up 18% nationwide this winter, on top of a 17% jump last year. The Energy Information Administration points to several causes: the war in Ukraine, production cuts by OPEC+, a surge in energy exports, lower energy inventories, and heavy demand for natural gas from the US electric power sector.

The agency projects that heating with natural gas will cost 25% more this winter and heating with electricity 11% more. Heating oil faces the steepest increase, expected to run 45% above last winter. That hits roughly 5 million households, most of them in the Northeast.

Tim Wiseley, 67, lives outside Philadelphia and is keeping his heat off even as temperatures approach freezing. Filling his oil tank costs about $1,500, and he wants what he buys to last. Inside, it is 50 or 55 degrees. "To me that's not unbearable yet," he said, adding that he will turn the heat on when his teeth chatter. Wiseley is retired and lives month to month on Social Security. He lost his wife last year, and his medical bills add to the load. "You can't go food shopping and get oil. It's one or the other," he said. He expects to run out of oil at some point this winter and does not know what he will do then. "It's a horrible feeling," he said. "It's a feeling I wouldn't wish on anyone."

Federal help is on the way. The Biden administration is distributing $4.5 billion this winter through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the money comes from regular congressional appropriations, additional emergency funding in September's continuing resolution, and $100 million from last year's bipartisan infrastructure law.

For some families, it falls short. Annette Thomas, 53, and her husband received $500 from the program to heat their home near Philadelphia. That was enough to fill roughly a third of their oil tank, which she thinks will last two to three weeks. "That's why we're holding off," she said. "We haven't turned our heat on yet. And it's chilly now."

The couple is trying to pay their electric bill in the coming days to avoid a shutoff, and their other costs are way up. They are relying on space heaters and electric blankets, hoping to save their oil for when their children come home for Thanksgiving. "These aren't luxuries, they're necessities, and it is a struggle," Thomas said. "So yes, it's upsetting. It is."

With the coldest months still ahead, the question is whether the $4.5 billion in aid reaches far enough, and whether households like these can keep the heat on without giving up food or risking utility shutoffs.