I am so sick and tired of hearing how utility bills affect the poor so much. I wish this news source would bother to do investigative reporting on the full story.
It would be interesting to see if these so called poor are out buying lottery tickets, beer and cigarettes, THEN complaining about their utility bill while cooling to 68F (in summer) and heating to 80F (in winter). I cool to about 79F and heat to about 62F and my utility bills for 1400 sq feet average $75/month, easily affordable for ANY income.
The truely poor in NC have plenty of public and private agencies in NC to provide winter heat. We have pretty mild winters with a few cold snaps that last a day or two. Most of the 'poor' heat with kerosine heaters or wood stoves.
As far as lottery tickets go, the poor are forced to buy that $2.00/gallon gas to drive to SC or Virginia to get their lottery tickets, and believe me, they do