Every article lists its sources, its publication and review dates, and where it applies.
10 results
A plain-language walk through a U.S. electric bill: usage, supply and delivery, fixed charges, riders and taxes, plus three checks that explain most surprise bills.
What the supply and delivery sections of an electric bill pay for, why delivery has been growing, and what "price to compare" means in states with electric choice.
Water and sewer prices have outpaced overall inflation for years. Here is what drives it: aging pipes, fixed costs, falling use and new safety rules, plus how to read your own bill.
About 8 in 10 Americans get tap water from a local-government system and about 1 in 10 from a private one. What the research says about prices and safety, why studies disagree, and how to look up your own system.
How oil-heated households can compare natural gas, heat pumps and mini-splits: how to look up current prices, the break-even math for the same heat, and the practical questions about your house.
How a mortgage escrow account pays your property taxes and insurance, how the yearly escrow analysis works, and what federal rules say about shortages, surpluses and cushions.
A practical way to find every recurring charge, decide what stays, and cancel cleanly, plus where federal subscription rules stand as of October 2026.
EIA's first weekly survey of the heating season put the U.S. residential heating oil price at $6.042 a gallon for the week of October 5, 2026, the highest weekly figure in its records, not adjusted for inflation.
The latest Consumer Price Index data, for August 2026, show water and sewer prices up 4.9% from a year earlier, compared with 3.4% for all consumer prices.
EIA data through July 2026 show the average U.S. residential electricity price at 18.19 cents per kWh for January to July, up from 17.01 cents a year earlier. EIA forecasts 18.2 cents for 2026 as a whole.
