HAD ENOUGH?:

This winter, cost of heating homes is forecast to drop: A homeowner could save as much as $250 on heating bills over last year (Ron Scherer, 9/25/06, The Christian Science Monitor)

Since last year at this time, the price of natural gas at the wellhead has plunged 47 percent, and the wholesale price of home heating oil is down 20 percent. If prices were to remain close to these levels - and if the winter is not overly cold - homeowners could save as much as $250 compared with last year, some energy analysts estimate.

"This is the equivalent of a major tax cut - almost the same as right after 9/11 when the government sent checks to everybody," says Dennis Jacobe, chief economist for the Gallup Organization in Washington. "What's nice is that it particularly helps middle- and lower-income people who were hurt the most when prices were soaring."