Category: Cost of Living
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Illinois and Iowa open heating aid to all income-eligible households November 1, after Illinois paid an average $676 to 360,500 homes last season
Heating help in Illinois and Iowa opens to every income-eligible household on November 1, a month after the first applications began for older adults and other priority groups. Illinois says its energy assistance program helped 360,500 households last season, with an average benefit of $676. The money comes from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program,…
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Puget Sound Energy customers would pay $28.31 more a month for electricity in January 2027 under the rate hike Washington’s attorney general is fighting
The average Puget Sound Energy household would pay $28.31 more a month for electricity starting in January 2027 if Washington regulators approve the utility’s rate request, according to Attorney General Nick Brown. His office filed expert testimony against the request with the Utilities and Transportation Commission, and its July 30 announcement puts that first-year jump…
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Oil-heated homes face an average $2,115 winter heating bill, EIA forecasts
A home that heats with oil is forecast to spend an average of $2,115 from November through March, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says in its Winter Fuels Outlook, published October 6. That is 21 percent more than last winter, and the most of any heating fuel. The same week, EIA’s first heating-oil survey…
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Trump’s order directs Treasury to defer federal diesel excise taxes incurred October 5 through December 31, but does not cancel them
The one thing President Trump’s diesel order does not say is when the deferred tax has to be paid. Executive Order 14435, signed October 5, 2026, directs the Treasury Department to postpone payment of federal diesel excise taxes incurred from October 5 through December 31, 2026. It does not cancel them. The order’s text leaves…
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Renters at properties of Greystar, Camden and dozens of other landlords using RealPage software have until January 29, 2027 to claim from a $359.9 million fund
The court hearing that decides whether $359,925,000 in rent-fixing settlements gets final approval is scheduled for October 15, 2026, and the claim window stays open for another three and a half months after it. The settlement website lists January 29, 2027 as the date claims must be submitted online or received. The money, about $359.9…
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California regular gas averaged $6.10 a gallon and diesel $8.09 in EIA’s latest survey
California drivers paid an average of $6.104 a gallon for regular gasoline and $8.091 for diesel in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey for October 12, which rounds to $6.10 and $8.09. EIA posted the figures on its gasoline and diesel fuel update on October 14. Both are well above the national averages in…
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Electric-heated homes are forecast to spend $1,637 this winter in the Northeast, $1,380 in the Midwest and $1,151 in the West, EIA says
The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that homes heated mainly with electricity will spend $1,637 on electricity this winter in the Northeast, $1,380 in the Midwest and $1,151 in the West. The numbers come from EIA’s Winter Fuels Outlook, released October 6, and cover November through March. The South is forecast at $1,079, and the…
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Western households heating with natural gas are expected to pay $590 this winter, the only region where EIA sees gas heating bills rising
Natural gas heating bills are forecast to fall in three of four U.S. regions this winter and rise in one. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects Western households that heat mainly with natural gas to pay $590 from November through March, up 7 percent from last winter, according to its Winter Fuels Outlook, published…
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At least seven insurers are leaving the ACA marketplace in 2027, forcing consumers in 20 states to switch plans, the Commonwealth Fund says
At least seven insurers will stop selling Affordable Care Act marketplace plans in 2027, and the Commonwealth Fund says their exits will force consumers in 20 states to switch to new plans next year. The count comes from an October 8 post by three Georgetown University health policy researchers, Stacey Pogue, Abigail Knapp and Justin…
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A 40-year-old just above the ACA subsidy cutoff who paid $445 a month in 2025 could owe $719 a month in 2027, a Commonwealth Fund analysis estimates
A 40-year-old whose income sits just above the cutoff for ACA premium help, and who paid $445 a month after tax credits in 2025, could owe $719 a month in 2027, a Commonwealth Fund analysis estimates. By the arithmetic of those two figures, that is $274 more each month, or $3,288 over a year. The…