The cost for heating homes will increase this year, Energy Secretary warns

Americans will pay more to heat their homes this year, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said Sunday.

Granholm was asked on CNN if consumers will be paying more for heating this year, to which she responded, "Yes. This is going to happen. It will be more expensive this year than last year. We are in a slightly beneficial position, certainly relative to Europe, because their chokehold of natural gas is significant. They'll pay five times higher.

"But we have the same problem in fuels that the supply chains have, which is that the oil and gas companies are not flipping the switch as quickly as the demand requires," she added.

Granholm explained that Biden is "focused on both the immediate term and the long term -- let us get off of the volatility associated with fossil fuels and associated with others who don't have our country's interests at heart, and invest in moving to clean energy where we will not have this problem," she said, before promoting Biden's infrastructure and spending bills as prioritizing these issues.

Americans using natural gas to heat their homes could spend an average of $746 this winter, which is a 30% increase from last winter. Homes heated by propane can expect a 54% increase, 43% for oil, and 6% for electric, according to the Energy Information Administration report, CNN noted.

Biden shut down construction on the Keyston XL pipeline when he took office, which would have transported oil from Canada to the U.S. The administration has also halted some new drilling sites, for which the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has filed a lawsuit against, The Epoch Times reported.