For many communities, winter doesn’t arrive with warm homes and cozy nights – it arrives with financial stress. Vulnerable communities, like seniors and low-income households, feel this impact first. As temperatures drop and thermostats inch up, so do costs, forcing these groups to make tough decisions in order to stay warm.
What should be a season of comfort too often becomes a season of distress. With energy sources like natural gas, families can afford winter costs and protect already tight household budgets, so they can focus on staying warm, healthy, and together.
Heat shouldn’t come with a hefty price tag
For many households, higher energy costs mean choosing between buying enough food for the week or stretching meals to save up for next month’s energy bill.
That is where energy costs matter. Homes heated with natural gas are projected to save $2 billion this winter, while homes heated with electricity will cost $4 billion more.
So that price difference isn’t just a number – it can change lives.
No family should have to choose between this week’s groceries and a warm home.
Our most vulnerable communities are hit the hardest.
When heat is a matter of health.
For seniors, heat isn’t just a luxury – it is essential to their health, safety, and quality of life. Cold homes can’t be solved for them by simply throwing on a blanket, it can cause serious harm to chronic illnesses and increase other health risks.
Every winter, seniors, specifically those on fixed incomes, are faced with the same financial dilemma:
Do I pay for my energy bill… or my prescriptions?
When heating costs rise, many seniors struggle to afford their medication, avoid doctor’s appointments, and increase their risk of hospitalization. Many turn the thermostat down and layer on the sweaters in hopes that they can afford next month’s energy bill.
In Delaware, nearly 8% of residents 65 and older live below the poverty level, with even more relying on fixed incomes. With this winter’s heat costs rising by 9.2%, these communities have to decide whether they suffer financially or physically.
That’s where affordable and reliable energy matters. With options like natural gas, seniors can count having a warm home without the high costs – lifting the pressure off their other tight budgets, like medication. This winter and forward, no senior should have to risk their health in order to keep their home warm.
For low-income households, already tight budgets are stretched thin
In the United States, 13% of households live below the Federal Poverty Level. For many of these families, basic human needs, like heat, are sacrificed each month due to cost.
While the median household spends 5.6% of their income to energy bills, low-income households face a far heavier burden – spending an average of 17.8%, nearly three-times as much, just to keep the lights on and heat running.
For these families, tight budgets get pushed to the breaking point.
Household income should not determine families’ safety this winter. With more affordable energy options, families can focus less on bills and more on being together.
This winter, let’s focus on energy you can count on
While winter always brings cold weather, it shouldn’t bring impossible choices. With affordable and reliable energy options like natural gas, families can count on the energy systems that run their houses, without sacrificing next month’s medication or what goes on the dinner table tonight.
This reliability allows all communities to focus on what truly matters this season: staying healthy, warm, fed, and together.
A warm home should be a given, not a gamble.