December 18, 2007
By: Connie Prater
For perhaps as many as 27 million American adults,
keeping warm this winter will mean borrowing money and 20 million will use
credit cards to be able to afford their heating bills, according to a CreditCards.com
poll. Nearly 12 percent of Americans say they will need to borrow money to pay
winter heating bills; 9 percent will need to use credit cards to be able to
afford their heating bills. The poll, commissioned by CreditCards.com and
conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, surveyed 1,004 randomly
selected American adults by telephone Dec. 7-9, 2007 to gauge their attitudes
about energy costs in 2008. A majority say they expect oil and gasoline prices
to get worse in 2008.
Heating bills are rising at a time when utility companies
across the country are broadening electronic payment options for customers,
including allowing credit card payments for utility bills. Personal finance
experts say paying for basic living expenses with credit cards makes sense only
if you pay off the entire balance each month. They also warn that carrying a
revolving balance encourages people to live beyond their means while racking up
interest charges that can plunge families deeper into debt.
Conserving and cutting back
More than two-thirds of the poll respondents (71 percent)
say they will attempt to reduce heating costs by lowering their thermostats
this winter. Every American family will need to consider ways to make similar
kinds of changes in their long-term energy consumption habits, says Perry
Sioshansi, president of Menlo Energy Economics, a
“We all need to make those decisions when we buy
appliances, when we’re replacing appliances. When the light bulb goes out, buy
the more efficient kind and put it in, get the more-energy-efficient insulation
for the walls,” he says. “These are permanent things that improve the
utilization of energy.”
He and other oil industry analysts and energy experts
expect fuel costs to continue to rise in 2008 — a situation that could
contribute to an overall economic slowdown.
Winter outlook
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA),
the federal agency that collects and distributes data on energy use and
expenditures, heating costs between October 2007 and March 2008 are expected to
spike by nearly 10 percent for the average
projections show the sharpest gains for heating oil users — especially those
living in the Northeast.
“That’s where people are really going to get
socked,” says Neil Gamson, an EIA energy fuel price expert. “Almost
all the heating oil in this country is consumed in the Northeast, in New
England, the midAtlantic states of
Residents of those areas could pay a total of $2,012 over
the six winter months — or an average of $353 a month — to heat their homes
through March 2008. That’s a 34 percent increase over the previous winter’s
bills.
More than half the country uses natural gas for home
heating. The highest heating bills will again go to the Northeast, where the
average home can expect to pay a total of $1,202 over the winter months — or
about $200 a month. The Western states will have the lowest natural gas bills,
according to the EIA. Homeowners there will pay about $557 through the winter.
Help paying the bills
Consumer credit counselors advise homeowners to consider
all utility payment options before borrowing to pay the bills. This may
include:
Federal, state and local government assistance programs
that offer grants to low- and moderate-income families to defray heating bill
costs.
Delayed or reduced payment plans offered by utility
companies to help customers budget energy expenses, including averaging
payments over the course of the entire year to avoid getting hit with a
jaw-dropping winter bill.
Charitable programs sponsored by many utilities that
solicit donations from paying customers to help consumers who are struggling to
pay their bills.
Beware of easy credit options, warns
the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based economic development research group
that specializes in consumer lending.
He notes the CreditCards.com poll data showing that nearly
20 percent of people making under $20,000 a year and 27 percent of those
earning $20,000 to $30,000 annually believe they will have to borrow money to
make the utility payments during the 2008 winter.
“This is exactly the type of situation where
consumers have to be wary of their credit options,” he says. “Don’t
rush into the easiest form of consumer credit. For many consumers, that’s often
payday loans.”
Avoid expensive borrowing options
Convenience checks and cash advances offered by credit
card companies carry higher interest rates. “Payday loans,” offered
by retail lending franchises across the country, are a source of quick cash for
people who borrow against their next paychecks.
can end up costing as much as 300 percent in interest and fees. “When it
gets cold we always try to make it clear that payday loans are really one of
the most-expensive forms of credit,” Feltner says.
He adds: “Borrow from friends and family, dip into
savings, look into credit unions for affordable loan products, negotiate a
payment plan with your utility provider.”
About the poll: GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media
conducted interviews with 1,004 Americans over the age of 18 on Dec. 7-9, 2007.
The survey participants were selected through random-digit dialing across the
continental
The poll’s margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level is plus or minus
3 percent for the full sample.