As a resident of Macon, Georgia, I feel the need to chime in here.
Most of us don't use oil. In fact, I know of none who do. We have electric heat pumps or gas furnaces. Given that this woman claims she needs assistance paying her electric bill, I assume she has a heat pump.
For along time in Georgia, gas heat was much cheaper than electric heat, but ill-advised "deregulation" caued gas prices to skyrocket, and now electric heat is cheaper. Of course, our Republican legislature and our Republican utiliy regulatory agency just granted Georgia Power a massive rate increase, so electric heat prices have gone up significantly within the last couple of months. I got a $100.00 increase last month (over the same month last year).
It does get cold in the South. Our average yearly low here in Macon is 15 degrees. In the winters, we go through warm spells (when the Gulf Stream is dominant) and cold spells (when the Jet Stream is dominant). The cold spells rarely last longer than a week at a time, but we will have six or seven such cold spells between November 1 and April 1. To us, those spells are pretty brutal. We tend to be less-well-prepared for those than those who live to our North. It really is impossible to survive for long without heat.
for what that's worth.
Cheers,
-Laelth
