Live in Chicago? You know, during a Cold Chicago Winter, heating bills can go through the roof. Especially if you have an older home, with 1920's-era insulation.
Four winters ago, during a spell when Natural Gas Prices spiked here in Chicago, one of our January gas heating bills topped at $640 - for only one month! And we don't have a huge home - just a modest Chicago Bungalow!
This winter has been comparatively mild, except for several weeks of chill earlier this month. But our bills for December and January have approached $300 - still quite high, but not quite as difficult to swallow as a plus-$500 bill.
Beginning January 28th, however, area natural gas bills are heading up a bit, according to a Chicago Tribune Report.
In the City of Chicago, Natural Gas Supplier Peoples Energy will boost bills by an average of $4.00 per month for residential customers. Chicago Northern Suburbs that use North Shore Gas for their heating fuel will see higher increases - averaging $5.50 per month, according to the utility.
I am guessing older houses like ours will go up even more - but time will tell, I imagine!
NICOR Gas, which serves most other Chicago Suburbs, has not yet announced a gas price increase at this time.
The changes were just approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. Peoples Energy claims the rate hikes, which will add an expected tens of millions of dollars in revenue to the utility companies, are necessary to offset the higher cost of natural gas delivery and facilities maintenance.
The Citizens Utility Board opposed the increased gas charges, and plans to appeal the ICC decision. They called on the utilities to reduce bloat and begin cost-cutting in their own organizations.
Please read our post today via BlogChicagoHomes.com.
DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
HI Dean- I couldn't imagine if our heat bill hit the $600 mark for one month! Have you thought of having an energy evaluation done on your home? Does Illinois offer any type of credits for doing energy saving measures to your home? I know that here in WI there are certain utility and gas companies that are actually partnering with Focus on Energy and providing additional rebates. May be worth looking into for you.
Heating and cooling costs here in San Diego are a significant part of our monthly expenses. We've had a mild winter, but our heating bill last month was $257, and we rarely use the heat anyway. It's probably all this computer usage from Playing in the Rain. LOL