Too Cold. . .Too Dark: Rising Energy Prices and Low-Income Households

摘要

The report discusses the cost of meeting the energy needs of low-income Americans during the winter 1979-80, with projections of expeditures for the 1980-1981 heating season. The report deals with households at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty line. It uses data from federal government and federally-supported survey sources. Expenditures are estimated and projected for each of the three major fuels used in space heating of homes--natural gas, fuel oil, and electricity. Alternative estimates have been made based on differing assumptions as to conservation for the winter just past and as to price, weather, and conservation for the winter which lies ahead.