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☆ ‘It’s like living in an igloo.’ People are turning off their heat as prices surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Gabe Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

She, too, is struggling to afford her heating bills. Johnson says she doesn’t qualify for government assistance with her heating bills. He wants his heating oil to last as long as possible and filling his tank costs roughly $1,500. But it was only enough to fill roughly one third of their oil tank, which Thomas thinks will last just two to three weeks. So they’re using space heaters and electric blankets to stay warm, hoping to save their heating oil for when their kids come home for Thanksgiving.

☆ Democrats resigned to losing the House see a silver lining in 2024 if Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell clash and fail to rein in the Trump wing of the GOP
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Democrats expect chaos next Congress as they face losing control of the House and possibly the Senate. They say far-right House members will be running the show as Kevin McCarthy struggles to control them. Between McCarthy and McConnell, Democrats view McConnell as the leader with more control over his caucus and they foresee future splits on legislation and priorities. Former President Barack Obama called it a "shellacking" when Democrats lost 63 House seats and 6 Senate seats in 2010. He expects House Democrats to lose about 30 seats, dropping from 222 to 190 and Republicans increasing from 212 to about 240.

☆ EBay's focus on luxury to refurbished goods drives results beat
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Nivedita Balu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The eBay logo is pictured on a phone screen in this photo illustration in New York, U.S., July 23, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/IllustrationNov 2 (Reuters) - EBay Inc's (EBAY.O) quarterly results beat Wall Street targets on Wednesday as inflation-wary shoppers snapped up refurbished goods and the ecommerce platform reaped the benefits of expanding its luxury offerings. The company still forecast holiday-quarter revenue slightly below estimates, but investors looked past that to drive up its shares nearly 8% in extended trading. The energy crisis has pushed up demand for home energy products in Germany though, they said, due to rising utility prices and uncertainty around energy availability. The midpoint of eBay's holiday-quarter revenue forecast of $2.42 billion to $2.50 billion came in slightly below analysts' expectations of $2.49 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

☆ Biden administration seeks to cut U.S. home energy bills with $4.5 bln savings package
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - The Biden administration will offer Americans nearly $4.5 billion in assistance to help lower home energy costs, the White House said on Wednesday. The package, announced by the Department of Health and Human Services through the Administration for Children and Families, will also help families make cost-effective home energy repairs and cover unpaid utility bills, the statement said. Separately, the Department of Energy announced a near $9 billion package for new home efficiency programs administered by tribes and states, the statement added. Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 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.

☆ Companies are taking money out of your pockets with fees you might not even know about. Here's Biden's plan to prevent that.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"Junk fees" are a type of fee that confuses consumers because the aren't disclosed up front. "Look, folks, these are junk fees," Biden said during remarks last week. Get rid of junk fees in entertainment, hospitality industries. Restrict junk fees in auto industry. Require upfront internet fees.

☆ 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.

☆ GM takes on Tesla with scheme to let homeowners store power and use their EVs as batteries
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Stephen Jones | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

General Motors is launching a division that provides homeowners with power storage technology. GM Energy will provide battery storage devices, and let drivers use EVs to power their homes. GM Energy will offer solar energy and battery storage products so electric vehicle owners can use their cars as power sources when needed, the company announced on Tuesday. GM Energy will use SunPower to provide customers with solar panels, with wall-mounted battery storage from Ultium and include its existing charging service called Ultium Charge 360. Tesla's energy storage business includes its Powerwall storage and Megapack storage units.

The commercial operations are already underway, while home energy systems will be available starting next year as the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV goes on sale. Travis Hester, vice president of GM's EV growth operations, said the new business unit offers customers and energy grids "resiliency." PG&E is working with GM Energy on a pilot test of a "bi-directional charger," which allows an EV to provide power to a home during a blackout. The EVs charge at night when rates are low and potentially provide energy back to the grid during peak hours. It also has partnered with Sunrun as a preferred installer of home energy systems.

☆ Carbon accounting startup Emitwise becomes latest climate tech startup to lay off staff as red hot sector jostles with economic downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Layoffs have hit the red-hot climate tech sector as it jostles with the economic downturn. Carbon accounting startup Emitwise has become the latest climate tech startup to lay off staff as the industry jostles with the economic downturn, Insider understands. Climate tech is wide-ranging, encapsulating everything from research and development-heavy batteries to carbon accounting SaaS tools. The energy crisis has been a boon for home energy startups working on rooftop solar, heat pumps, and smart thermostats. At One Ventures' Lin added that in moments of economic difficulty "sometimes the most interesting innovations are born."

☆ 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.

☆ Factbox: Europe's efforts to shield households from soaring energy costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-02 | by ( Susanna Twidale | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Without the measure, average home energy bills were tipped to reach over 3,500 pounds a year in October with forecasts of much higher bills to come. CZECH REPUBLICThe Czech government has agreed to cap electricity and gas prices next year to shield households from soaring prices. ITALYItaly approved an aid package worth some 14 billion euros ($14 billion) in September to shield firms and families from surging energy costs. The measures came on top of some 52 billion euros already budgeted since January to soften the energy crisis in Italy. NORWAYNorway has been subsidising household electricity bills since December and now covers 80% of the portion of power bills above a certain rate.

☆ Factbox: How governments are trying to ease inflation pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

* Mexico will raise the minimum wage by 20% next year after an agreement was reached between employers, labour representatives and the government. EUROPE:* European Union countries are racing to reach a deal on a gas price cap by Dec. 13. The bloc's members are considering a slightly lower gas price cap than the one proposed by the European Commission, documents seen by Reuters showed. * Slovakia will spend 6 billion euros to cap energy prices for households next year. * Tunisia's government in September signed a deal with a major labour union to raise public sector pay and the minimum wage.

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