It is not just the poorest households who are struggling to pay their energy bills or who are affected by government energy policies, says Americans for Balanced Energy Choices.

A new study reveals individuals and families making less than $50,000 per year will pay 22 percent of their after-tax income for energy, double the burden of just a decade ago. That means 2.4 million households in Pennsylvania are using nearly $1 of every $4 in net earnings for energy, with energy costs now approaching the proportion for housing.

Poorest families suffer the most, using more than half (54 percent) of their after-tax income for transportation and personal energy, such as home heating and lighting. It is only when families earn more than $50,000 a year that energy purchases become a manageable part of the family budget, dropping to just 9 percent of after-tax income.

Energy prices have increased almost 19 percent in the past year. To compound the household budget problem, food prices have gone up more in the past year than they have in nearly 20 years, including an 18 percent increase in milk prices and a more than 30 percent hike in egg prices.

"Part of the inflation in food costs is being attributed to encouragement of ethanol as an alternative fuel, which may be helping drive up prices for animal feed and some foods consumed by people," notes Joe Lucas, ABEC executive director. "This is an example of how energy policy can affect other parts of our economy and the family budget."

"That's why ABEC is fighting to keep coal a part of the mix of our energy resources. It is much more affordable as a source of electricity compared to natural gas or oil, which can cost much more to produce each kilowatt hour of electrical power."

Since 2001 the increases in the costs of fuels for electricity are: 201 percent for oil, 80 percent for natural gas and 48 percent for coal.

In Pennsylvania, more than half of the electricity (56 percent) is coal generated, compared to the national average of 50 percent, helping keep the state's average price of electricity per kilowatt hour at less than the national average.

For consumers, the increases in the costs of their energy sources since 2001 have been: 166 percent for heating oil, 123 percent for gasoline, 44 percent for natural gas and 27 percent for electricity.

"As we work for energy independence and environmental improvements, we should remember that electricity, produced mainly from domestic coal -- including coal from Pennsylvania -- has offered the most stable price over the past decade," Lucas noted. "One can only imagine what would happen to electricity prices and the total energy cost burden if ill-considered public policy drives unnecessary inflation in the cost of coal."

ABEC supports cleaner and more efficient coal technologies, with Lucas pointing out that the industry has reduced emissions by a third even though coal use has doubled during the past 30 years.

For more information, visit the Americans for Balanced Energy Choices website.

3/28/2008