As the snow melts in New York, the temperature is not the only thing on the rise. Prepare for sticker shock on your utility bills, which are likely to be particularly high after a brutally cold winter.
“Natural gas has more seasonal fluctuation, and we tend to use more in the winter,” said Sanya Carley, faculty director of Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. “It’s been profoundly cold so people are using a lot more.
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Higher utility bills from the winter may further squeeze the wallets of many New Yorkers.
“In the current environment of prices rising so significantly, I think a much greater proportion of the population will have a harder time paying their energy bills and may resort to unsafe behavior to cope,” Carley said, referring to people who may, for instance, use their ovens as a heating source — a dangerous choice that can lead to fires or carbon monoxide poisoning.
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