Context for Rising Heating Costs: Energy Company Profits Announced Next Week

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One of the big story lines of the coming weeks and months is sure to be the rising cost of home energy. The context for this reporting is critical to give voters a complete picture of what is happening and why. As temperatures drop around the country, wealthy Big Oil executives are forcing working families – many of whose budgets are already stretched – to worry about choosing between buying groceries and heating their homes. This added stress on families’ budgets comes after record-breaking profits in the second quarter for many of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world, and just ahead of another profits release that is expected to be significant. In recent weeks, President Biden warned oil executives against price gouging and profiteering off the backs of working Americans, but prices at the pump indicate that they’re unwilling to put people ahead of their profits. Quarter three profits are expected to confirm that Big Oil executives are continuing their profiteering as winter sets in.