- Rising fees for utilities may be slowing recovery, economists say, By Colleen O’Connor, November 7, 2010, Denver Post: “Even in one of the most contentious election cycles in recent history, most politicians agree on one thing: It’s a mistake to raise taxes during an economic recession or early in a recovery. But equally mandatory fees have quietly and relentlessly crept up in Colorado and across the nation, and economists say they could be slowing the economic recovery. Rates for electricity, water, sewage treatment and phones – even bus fares – have risen during the recession…”
- Nickel and dimed by increasing fees, Editorial, November 9, 2010, Denver Post: “Unemployment is high. Pay raises, for those lucky enough to be getting them, are low. The economy is barely bubbling back to life, yet utility and public transportation rates have soared in the past few years in Colorado, making us wonder if those in charge are tone deaf to the pressures faced by working families. A story in The Sunday Denver Post by reporter Colleen O’Connor documented some of those increases, which include an average 15 percent retail electricity increase from Xcel between 2009 and 2010…”
Tag: Utilities
Fuel Poverty in the UK
- Rise in fuel poverty is a ‘national scandal’, By Graham Snowdon, October 14, 2010, The Guardian: “A senior charity executive has described the increase in fuel poverty as ‘a national scandal’ after official figures released today showed that the number of fuel-poor families rose to 4.5m in 2008, around one in six of all UK households. A fuel-poor family is defined as one that has to spend more than 10% of its income on heating its home to a decent standard. According to the latest data in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) statistics, an extra half a million households fell into this category from 2007-2008. The Annual Report on Fuel Statistics 2010 showed vulnerable households in the UK as a whole – around three-quarters of homes – were especially hard-hit, with fuel poverty in these homes rising to 3.75m in 2008, up by 500,000 from the previous year…”
- Fuel poverty doubles in five years, By Harry Wollop, October 14, 2010, The Telegraph: “With the average British fuel bill climbing to well over £1,000 a year – for many pensioners the largest bill they have to pay all year – a worryingly large number of people are struggling to keep their homes warm. A household is defined as being fuel poor if it has to spend 10 per cent or more of its income on paying to keep the home adequately warm. In 2003 the number of households hit a low of two million, but it climbed to four million in 2007 and then 4.5 million in 2008, the figures for which were published today by the Department of Energy & Climate Change…”
Home Energy Assistance Program – Illinois
Community Contacts helps low income residents save energy, income, By Heather Linder, July 23, 2010, Daily Herald: “Carbon monoxide was silently seeping from Samantha Behenna’s furnace and polluting her St. Charles home. She and her family were clueless until Community Contacts, in the process of making their house more energy efficient, discovered the dangerous leak. The nonprofit, Elgin-based organization replaced the furnace and removed the threat through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Community Contacts specializes in assisting low-income individuals and families from Kane and DeKalb counties in making their homes safer and more energy efficient with LIHEAP, the Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP) and the Housing Rehabilitation Program. The group helps keep residents from spending a bulk of their income on utilities…”