On the recordSeptember 22, 2022
Madam President, I thank the Senator from Rhode Island for yielding. I appreciate his kindness. I know he has got a lot to say on the subject, and hopefully he will be able to get back to it. Energy Madam President, I want to speak just a minute about the issue of high energy prices and high grocery prices that have become a distinguishing feature of the Biden economy. Electricity prices increased 15.8 percent in August, the largest year-over-year increase since 1981--1981. I wasn't even married the last time we saw electricity increases like this, and now I have grandkids. Utility gas service was up 33 percent from a year ago in August--33 percent increase year over year from August. The price of home heating oil, which many households in places like New Hampshire rely on to keep their homes warm in the winter, has soared. All told, the National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates that home heating costs for the winter heating season will average $1,202--a 17.2-percent increase from last season. I haven't even mentioned gas prices. Gas prices may have decreased from their $5 high this summer--partly as a result of President Biden's problematic decision to draw down our Nation's emergency petroleum reserves to their lowest point since 1985, with no plan to refill them--but customers are still paying $1.30 more per gallon than they were when President Biden took office.…





