How to get help paying your gas or electric bill, access energy efficiency upgrades and protect your household from utility shutoffs this winter. 4 min read Although inflation may be slowing, folks are still feeling the squeeze of high prices for everything from groceries to gas. Increased costs have also hit utilities like heating and cooling, with the consumer price index for energy costs increasing by about one-third since 2020. High utility bills become an even bigger problem in winter...

In much of the United States, people take daylight saving time for granted. We'll turn our clocks forward an hour in the spring and back again in the fall. But does the time change actually save energy? The concept of daylight saving time has been around for hundreds of years. It's often traced back to Benjamin Franklin, who jokingly proposed earlier wake-up times as a way for people to save money on candles in a 1784 essay -- but the founding father wasn't actually serious, according to the...

Getting your garden ready for fall means planting fall flowers like mums, but it's time to mix things up a bit. Here are some of the most overrated fall flowers, according to experts—plus recommendations for better blooms, shrubs, and even vegetables you can plant to keep your garden looking bright and colorful all autumn long. Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best-growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more! Meet the Expert Mandy Smith is a Penn...

Many New Jersey residents experienced sticker shock when the state's Board of Utilities approved an increase in electricity rates in February 2024. A heat wave that summer only drove electric bills higher. One Reddit user said their electric bill went up "more than threefold" while trying to keep their home cool over the summer. Electricity prices in New Jersey have been increasing over the past several years. Garden State residents pay more per kilowatt-hour than the national average,...