Add utilities to the long list of things that are more expensive than ever. That’s right, this winter, officials at the various utilities are expecting costs to take off faster than a babysitter’s boyfriend when a car pulls up.
Here’s Five Fast Facts on Minnesota’s Expensive Winter:
- 🥶Add It Up - Representatives for some of the utilities across the state said you can count on at least a 10% increase in prices for natural gas, fuel oil, propane, and electricity
- 🛢️Blame Putin - The rising costs in large part can be pinned on Russia, thanks to the war in Ukraine. Russia is withholding natural gas from Europe. As a result, European countries are bidding up the price to fill their reservoirs.
- 🔌It’s Electric! - If you heat your house with electricity, you’re not getting off that easily, because most electricity in the US comes from burning natural gas.
- ☀️Summer Lovin’ - A record hot summer on a global scale, led to a higher demand for air conditioning, which is also powered by electricity.
- 🧊Wind Chilled - We’re also still feeling the metaphorical burn from the winter of 2021. Thanks to Winter Storm Uri, our largest gas utilities started adding a surcharge to our bills to cover costs they incurred.
🔥Bottom line: There are so many factors colliding here that there’s no easy way out. These prices are completely out of our hands and can’t be pinned on one person to solve immediately. The system is clearly broken and unless a number of things change on a global scale, it’s going to be an expensive few years ahead. Bundle up!
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