Hudson Valley Residents Facing Huge Heating Bills this Winter

Because there is not enough to worry about this year, we’ve just been handed another blow. Winter is coming and if we want to stay warm this year it will most likely cost us an arm and a leg. There have been reports over the past few weeks about how cold this coming winter will be, at least here in the Hudson Valley, and now there are reports about the sky high heating bills we can all expect to pay.

And nobody is getting out of it. No matter how you heat your house you’ll be paying more, according to the United States Energy Information Administration. Do you heat with natural gas, like I do? Prepare to pay 30% more than you did last year. 50% more if we have a colder than usual winter. Even if our winter is warmer than last year, we’ll still pay 22% more.

Do you heat your house with heating oil? Expect to pay 43% more than last year, 59% more if we have a colder winter. If propane is how you heat your house you’ll be paying 54% more than you did last year, and if it’s a cold winter it could be as much as 94% more. Folks who heat with electricity will be a bit better off. Only 6% more than last year and 15% if it’s a colder winter.

I’d like to end this article with a paragraph that begins with the words ‘the good news is’, but it doesn’t look like there is a lot of good news to report. How about, the good news is there are plenty of cozy blankets and attractive sweatshirts to choose from this year at the stores. Sorry, it’s the best I can do. And I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for a warmer winter.