Fire up a home heating story

Unless we live in Miami or plan to layer on those Snuggie blanket-robe things that are this year’s “as seen on TV” marketing hit, we’ve got to dial up the thermostat soon.

photo by flickr user Evil Erin

The good news: Natural gas prices have dropped considerably, while inventories have swelled, and the American Gas Association is predicting lower bills this winter for households that heat with that fuel. Here’s their recent release, with links to fuel-saving tips and other resources.

Given that bit of good news, you might want to plan a home-heating outlook piece for the near future. Spin it as an update on your area’s energy business, or craft a reader-friendly personal finance package, but somehow find a way to alert your readers that they may be getting a price break this year.

Here’s a link to a previous blog post with more detail about the price swing in the natural gas market, along with links to other energy sources.

Of course, only about two-thirds of U.S. homes are heated with natural gas. You’ll want to cover other fuel sources as well, like heating oil and electricity, through research agencies like the Energy Information Administration and your local utilities.

Another tactic: Approach this as a small business piece: Check with firewood suppliers, woodstove stores, furnace installation and repair services and purveyors of other related products.

Looking ahead:
Here are major economic releases expected next week, with links to some previous tipsheets that touch on related topics and ideas for localizing the national reports.

Nov. 16:
Retail sales: Previous post.

Nov. 17:
Producer Price Index (wholesale prices): Previous post.
Industrial production

Nov. 18:
Consumer Price Index: Previous post.
Previous post on deflation, the “evil twin” of inflation:
Housing starts, building permits

Nov. 19:
Initial jobless claims, continuing claims
Leading indicators