Developing a sound exit strategy from utility bills

By Laura Hipshire
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

It’s open season on the wallets of homeowners across the nation—and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight when it comes to rising utility and tax bills.

Gas, electricity, oil . . . hike!
Families who use natural gas to heat their homes will likely see their winter heating bills go up 17% to an average of $700, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. During the October to March heating period, electricity costs are estimated to go up 12%, and heating-oil costs are expected to go up 42%.

Higher heating costs are bad news for the struggling economy.

When consumers are spending more on essentials such as heat, they’re left with less to spend on things like cars, clothes and restaurants. The government is blaming the price increase in part on the rising cost of oil.

Rising water
As if gas and heating increases weren’t enough, Detroit water customers will pay more for it starting this summer.

The Detroit City Council recently approved water rate increases for both the city and the suburbs—an average of 3.8% for the suburbs and about 7.4% for the city. Does it ever end?

Detroit’s water and sewer department has about four million customers in southeastern Michigan. It serves 126 communities in parts of eight counties. With water bills in the hundreds of dollars during Michigan’s hot summer months, many homeowners are forced to forgo swimming pools, extra loads of laundry, and adequate lawn watering.

An end in sight … for some
Not everyone has to give up the basic necessities to keep up with their utility bills, though. Folks living at Henry Ford Village in Dearborn need only keep track of two bills a month—one for their monthly service package and one for their telephone.

“You get a lot for your money,” says Ralph Cornell, who moved to Henry Ford Village from Dearborn with his wife Phyllis.