Despite a drop in energy prices this year, utility bills remain unaffordable for approximately 322,000 Connecticut households, according to an annual report commissioned by the nonprofit Operation Fuel.
The report, written by Massachusetts-based Fisher, Sheehan & Colton Public Finance and General Economics, pegged the state’s “home energy affordability gap” – the dollar amount of home energy bills that exceed affordable levels (6 percent of household income) – at $399 million.
That’s down from $471 million last year and $784 million in 2014. The decline is mainly due to lower natural gas and fuel oil prices.
The federal government allocated $85 million to Connecticut for low-income energy assistance in 2015-2016, enough to cover only one-fifth of the state’s affordability gap, the report said.
The 322,000 households noted in the report are the number with income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, which varies by geography.
On average, home energy bills exceeded affordable levels for those 200 percent households by $1,241, down from $1,506 a year ago.
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