White House Unlocks $13.5B In Energy Help: What It Means In PA

PENNSYLVANIA — The White House on Wednesday announced $13.5 billion in energy assistance, including $4.5 billion to help Pennsylvania residents and other Americans pay higher heating bills this winter.

The nearly half of the U.S. population using natural gas to heat their homes could see costs as much as 28 percent higher, according to a recent analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Energy.

According to the agency’s projections, heating oil costs will be about 27 percent higher, electricity will cost about 10 percent more, and propane costs will be about 5 percent more.

In the Northeast states, including Pennsylvania, heating a home this winter will cost between $1,094 (average estimated expenditure for natural gas) and $2,354 (average estimated cost for heating oil), depending on the type of fuel used, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The price of natural gas spiked to record highs in Pennsylvania over the past year.

The state's Public Utility Commission said that most utilities adjusted their prices over the summer, as they do every year. But this year, given a unique set of circumstances, the rate hike was significantly higher, ranging between 6 percent and 45 percent, depending on the utility in question.

"Pennsylvania’s regulated electric utilities routinely adjust, either quarterly or biannually, the default service price they charge non-shopping customers for electric generation," the PUC explained in their announcement. "This price, also known as the “Price to Compare” (PTC), is what consumers use to compare prices and potential savings among competitive electric generation suppliers."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set aside $4.5 billion in assistance under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which over the last year has helped more than 5.3 million U.S. households with heating, cooling and weatherization, according to the White House.

“In addition to covering home heating costs this winter and unpaid utility bills, the program will help families make cost-effective home energy repairs to lower their heating and cooling bills,” the White House said in a statement.

The White House also announced a $9 billion allocation from the Department of Energy to help up to 1.6 million households nationwide upgrade their homes to lower their energy bills. The funding was authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Two rebate programs will be offered.

One provides funding to upgrade homes and apartments to lower energy bills through the installation of up to 500,000 heat pumps in “deep building retrofits” that include insulation and wiring upgrades. The other provides for the purchase of highly efficient and electric and home appliances.

“In addition to lowering costs, energy-efficient and electric building and appliance upgrades can reduce indoor and local outdoor air pollution, improving health in our communities,” the White House said. “In addition, they will cut millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year to help tackle climate change.”

• Related: Sharp Increases In Winter Heating Costs Cause Worry, Anxiety To Spike

The surge in home heating costs comes on top of stubborn inflation that is raising the price of almost everything. Inflation rates accelerated last month with consumer prices, excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, growing 6.6 percent, the fastest such pace in four decades.

Overall, the September Consumer Price Index was up 8.2 percent from the year prior.

The projected spike in winter’s heating bills — the highest in more than a decade, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association — is the result of converging factors.

Global energy consumption has rebounded from the early days of the pandemic, and supply was barely keeping pace before the war in Ukraine further reduced supplies.