MI Study Details Energy Cost Impacts

Hundreds of thousands of Michigan households have exhausted their financial resources and sought assistance to heat their homes as a result of rising energy costs, with some even turning to credit this past winter to pay their utility bills, according to a statewide study commissioned by the non-profit energy assistance agency The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW).

Conducted May 1 - 8, 2006, by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA, the study of 800 Michigan households shows that 57 percent have felt either a major or significant impact on their spending because of increasing energy costs, with 15 percent having borrowed money or used a credit card to pay their bills or make energy efficient home improvements. Another 24 percent indicated they have gone on a payment plan with their utility provider. It also indicates that people were more concerned about the overall cost of energy (home heating and transportation) than the cost of health care and the loss of jobs in Michigan.

"This survey reinforces what THAW and our partners have suspected since energy costs began rising – this problem shows no discrimination in who it affects," said Kathleen Walgren, THAW's executive director. "It cuts across all ages and income levels from southeast Michigan to the Lake Michigan coast to the upper peninsula."

For more information, contact THAW.

Source: THAW

Page Last Updated: May 26, 2006