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☆ White House requests $37.7 billion in new Ukraine funding, $10 billion for Covid relief
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The White House is requesting nearly $40 billion in new funding from Congress to support Ukraine and an additional $10 billion for pandemic relief. Other House Republicans like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said at the beginning of the month "not another penny will go to Ukraine" under Republican leadership. The formal funding request also includes $9.25 billion for Covid-19 relief and $750 million to address other infectious diseases. The White House is requesting $2.5 billion for Covid-19 vaccine access and replenishing the Strategic National Stockpile, $5 billion for further vaccine development, $750 million for long Covid research and $1 billion to international aid combatting the virus. The White House also requested an unspecified amount for natural disaster relief to help Florida and Puerto Rico rebuild from Hurricanes Ian and Fiona.

☆ We'll have a problem in the Northeast if we face a polar vortex this winter, says utility CEO
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe'll have a problem in the Northeast if we face a polar vortex this winter, says utility CEOEversource CEO Joe Nolan joins 'The Exchange' to discuss the challenges for natural gas supply as we head toward winter. Last month, Nolan wrote a letter to President Joe Biden urging for energy assistance.

☆ Biden administration to provide over $13 billion in aid to help American families lower energy bills
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration is providing over $13 billion in aid to help low- and moderate-income Americans lower their energy costs, including grants to pay electric bills as well other incentives to make energy-efficient upgrades to their homes. The announcement reflects the administration's efforts to lower energy costs amid extreme temperature shifts from climate change. Under the initiative, the Department of Health and Human Services will release $4.5 billion in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding, which helps pay energy bills and energy-related home repairs for families. "We know that winter heating bills account for the largest share of low-income households' home energy needs. The Biden administration will also provide roughly $9 billion to help low- and moderate-income families lower energy costs by making energy-efficient upgrades to their homes.

☆ U.S. households await winter with dread due to high energy costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Across the U.S., families are looking to the winter with dread as energy costs soar and fuel supplies tighten. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association says energy costs will be the highest in more than a decade this winter. The pain will be especially acute in New England, which is heavily reliant on heating oil to keep homes warm. It’s projected to cost more than $2,300 to heat a typical home with heating oil this winter, the energy department said. But that level represents an overall reduction from last year, when federal pandemic relief pushed the total energy assistance package past $8 billion.

They heat their home mainly with fuel oil, which costs them $4.57 a gallon, up from around $3.10 last year. Duke Energy customers in Indiana were recently hit with a 7% hike after a temporary 16% increase just this summer. Fuel oil customers often must pay for deliveries up front, and many suppliers have been less willing to offer payment plans because of market volatility, experts said. “I don’t have savings, period.”Brickey and Parks applied for LIHEAP assistance through District Three, a government cooperative geared toward senior citizens in southwest Virginia. They had three months of electricity paid for this past summer, along with $800 worth of fuel oil assistance last winter.

☆ U.S. Congress unveils stopgap bill to avert shutdown, aid Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A Tuesday evening Senate procedural vote is designed to speed action once Democrats and Republicans put the finishing touches on legislation. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged his fellow Republicans to vote against the temporary funding bill because of the Manchin provision, Politico reported. And I would hope my friends would look at it that way," Manchin said in an interview with CNN, referring to the inclusion of his permitting reforms in the temporary funding bill. The last time Congress allowed funding to lapse was in December 2018, when Democrats balked at paying for then-President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall. Following a record, 35-day impasse and partial government shutdown, Trump found ways to circumvent Congress to some degree, but the wall never was completed.

☆ Thought you paid a lot to heat your home last year? Wait until this winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The couple is now paying $472 a month on the budget plan, up from around $290 a month last winter. Jason Bell may have to take on a second part-time job, on top of his full-time position, to afford his heating bills this winter. Those who heat with natural gas are facing the largest spike, with their cost for the winter heating season expected to soar 34.3% to $952, the association said. The tab for heating oil is expected to jump 12.8% to $2,115. Oil prices, which spiked last winter after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, are declining but are still higher than they were last year.

That spike in demand pushed prices higher, and was exacerbated by the retirement of coal-fired and nuclear plants, in favor of electric generators. Meanwhile, natural gas production has been slow to come back online after waves of shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, the price of natural gas is at levels not seen in more than a decade. The company said the increases are directly related to higher natural gas prices. "For many struggling families, higher prices can mean being forced to choose between heat, food or medication," the association said.

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