Full Title: How Much of an Increase in Home Energy and Gasoline Costs do People Think They Can Afford?
Author(s): Energy Survey, University of Michigan
Publisher(s): Energy Survey, University of Michigan
Publication Date: December 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Two newly developed indices measure the perceived affordability of energy by examining the levels of home energy bills and gasoline prices that U.S. consumers say they would find unaffordable.
- Consumer views on the affordability of energy were probed by asking about the costs at which respondents felt that they or their family would have to make significant changes in their daily lives because of energy expenses.
- The average affordability index for gasoline over the past two years was 80. U.S. consumers say, on average, that $5.50 per gallon of gasoline would be unaffordable. The national average pump price was $3.16 per gallon over this period.
- Each energy affordability index was created with an open-ended scale anchored at zero, with the zero level reflecting a perception that a consumer’s current energy expenses were already unaffordable (in the sense stated above).
- The average affordability index for home energy over the past two years was 125. This is based on the monthly energy bill increase that consumers, on average, say would be unaffordable compared to their recent self-reported home energy bills.
- The scale is defined so that an affordability index of 100 reflects a consumer belief that the cost of energy would have to double before it is viewed as unaffordable.
- For higher income consumers, the affordability indices—99 for gasoline and 152 for home energy—were significantly higher than those for middle and lower income consumers.