The War in Iran Will Make It Harder for Americans to Stay Warm This Winter

As America’s war with Iran continues and winter approaches, families already struggling to cover rising living costs could face another financial shock: utility bills to keep their homes warm. Americans are already feeling the pain at the pump. Filling a 14-gallon gas tank now costs about $62, compared with $44 a year ago, based on AAA’s national averages. For someone using a full tank each week, that would mean roughly $912 in additional annual fuel costs if the price gap persisted.But the war’s cost burden is affecting more than just gasoline prices. The war in Iran is also pushing up the cost of heating our homes. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association projects that home energy costs will rise by 8.7% this winter—more than twice the latest annual inflation rate of 3.4%. Nearly 5 million households in the U.S., mostly in the Northeast, depend on heating oil to heat their homes. If families felt their bills had grown substantially higher over the past five years, they are not mistaken. Energy costs have already increased nearly 30% on average since 2021. On top of that, heating oil costs are projected to rise by more than 31% this winter, largely because of the sharp...