Finance student at Quinnipiac University Emma McCarthy said how she has been impacted by the rise in gas and energy prices while having to afford her own utility bills as a full-time student in her off-campus house.
“It’s been hard as a college student because you never know how much the electricity bill will be month to month and how much money to set aside for utilities,” McCarthy said.
The cost of electricity in Connecticut has nearly doubled since this time last year according to AAA. Supply chain issues and other events going on worldwide could be what are affecting gas and energy prices causing them to fluctuate. This leaves some students in the Hamden area scrounging for extra money when it comes time to pay their utility bills each month.
There is no secret that the cost of living has surged in the area recently, especially gas and energy prices. Whether you have United Illuminating, Southern CT gas, Eversource, or Connecticut Natural Gas Corporation. According to AAA, energy and gas consumers in the area have seen a rise in their gas and energy bills starting January 2023. Something that cost $100 in 2020 now costs around $117 according to the U.S Bureau of Labor statistics. That $17 adds to around one hour of work for some Hamden residents.
Hamden residents can take part in a payment program to assist their financial needs while the gas and energy prices keep rising. The Hamden town website says “The Fuel and Energy Assistance program. It offers financial aid and referral services to Hamden residents experiencing financial insecurity meeting fuel and energy bill payments.” Fuel and energy assistance is available to Hamden residences that meet program guidelines.
The Keefe Community Center director of Community Services Sharon Jones, explains how the town of Hamden better assists its residents during these tough times.
“We do have our program here at the Keefe Center, which is called ‘Utility Assistance,’” Jones said. “It is publicized. It is on the website. Then if they are having problems with it, they can come to us. We would like residents to know that we do not pay 100%. Nothing is guaranteed. But we do our best to pay what we could help with. Each case is done individually. And we usually do not turn anyone away.”
Caroline Hendry, Scientific Director, and Advisor to the Chair of Genetics at Yale School of Medicine, is also a Hamden resident. She explains the effects gas and energy prices have affected her.
“Considering I am not originally from the States, these prices are astronomical.” She said “You would think that the government would step in and not allow these issues to happen. Fortunately, I have a job, my husband has a job, and we can make it work but I am not sure What people who are less fortunate are able to do. Back in Australia, there are so many government programs for people who are low income, I do not see that as much here, especially not too many in Connecticut.”
The price of driving around is also unpredictable with gas prices always fluctuating. The average price of gasoline in New Haven has fallen 2.5 cents per gallon in the week of April 24th, averaging $3.21 per gallon today, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 229 stations in New Haven. Prices in New Haven are 11.1 cents per gallon lower than March 2023 and stand 45.9 cents per gallon lower than March 2022. The national average price of diesel has fallen 7.7 cents in late April and stands at $4.38 per gallon.
According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in New Haven was priced at $2.95 per gallon during April. While the most expensive was $3.69, a difference of 74.0 cents at the end of April. The lowest price in the state in late April was $2.41 per gallon while the highest was $3.83, a difference of $1.42. These statistics allow consumers to further understand the issue at hand. During the pandemic, the average gas price across the country was sitting at $1.82 a gallon. This is a startling increase from a short three years ago. And wages have not continued to rise with the country’s inflation.
Patrick DeHaan, a Gas Buddy expert on gas prices shared his insight into the rise in gas prices saying, “So the average price of gasoline that people put in their cars has risen about 3 cents a gallon in the last week, after being low for the winter. We are starting to see gasoline prices going up, and a lot of that is because the transition to more expensive summer gasoline is starting to happen. Summer gasoline is mandated by the EPA in the months ahead.” The Environmental Protection Agency regulates environmental protection matters.
He continues to say “As temperatures get warmer, airborne emissions become more problematic, and so we have diverse types of gasoline required during the summer months. As that transition is happening, not only is that ghastly more expensive to produce, but the prices also go up because refineries are not producing as much of it because they use late winter, and early spring to do periodic maintenance on their facilities before demand starts to surge in the summer months. So, during refinery maintenance, refiners are shutting down part of their units to do maintenance work, to prepare for the summer driving season, which is much higher demand, and as a result.”
Engineering Professor at Quinnipiac University, John Reap shares his thoughts and ideas of ‘what’s next,’ since there are so many alternatives to using gas or excess energy such as electric cars, heat pumps, solar panels on homes, etc.
“You need to invest in energy sustainability over time, not simply to build the technology, but also to deploy the technology. If you did not come into this starting five to 10 years ago, thinking that energy prices were going to be high. Then you are going to find yourself at a disadvantage because people are going to be trying to buy these things that either stabilize your energy, reduce your energy usage through efficiency or switch to alternatives.”
The War in Ukraine has cut our ties with Russia, thus limiting the fuel and gas we receive from them. Which has forced the US to receive its gas products from other countries. As a result, causing a surge in prices for these products. The war has not just ravished portions of Eastern Europe, but it has also uprooted the functionality of the global economy.
As Americans, we would be naive to think that a war halfway across the globe does not affect us. In an article from the Economist from 2022 they wrote “The immediate global implications will be higher inflation, lower growth, and some disruption to financial markets as deeper sanctions take hold. The longer-term fallout will be a further debilitation of the system of globalized supply chains and integrated financial markets that have dominated the world economy since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.”
Reap also said, “If everyone is trying to suck from the same straw you really need to pull a harder vacuum. You have to ‘suck’ harder, and that’s also part of the reason that costs are going up.”
Reap then advised consumers that “We are going to have energy continue to rise in cost. Both because demand is going up and because our supplies are becoming more expensive. So, I think the only choice we have is to invest in higher efficiency. And you know there are improvements being made in efficiency.”