Dear Friend, 

Despite a longer-than-expected warm spell earlier this month, temperatures are officially ticking down for the season. It’s no secret that I welcome the cold weather—and pond hockey games that come with it—but the upcoming winter has many Minnesotans concerned about persistently high energy costs.

They are rightly concerned. Americans are now facing the highest home heating costs in 25 years. The two-thirds of Minnesotans who use natural gas to heat their homes have seen their bill increase more than 165% over the last year. Across the board, the average American household can expect to pay about $1,200 more to heat their homes this winter. No wonder one-in-six Americans is now behind on their utility bills and at risk of losing service.

The only way to dig ourselves out from under these high prices is by renewing our energy production here at home.

Even while Congress is in recess, we are working to bring down these overwhelming energy costs. Earlier this month, I joined a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland expressing our serious concern about the extremely low number of oil and gas leases the Biden Administration has permitted, which are down 97% from the first 19 months of the previous administration. You can read more about that letter here.

Home heating is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. By dragging their feet on oil and gas leasing, the Biden Administration is putting our current and future access to affordable energy in jeopardy.

Stay tuned for more on our work in Minnesota and Washington and subscribe to in-depth updates on priorities like the economy, privacy and more on our website, here. You can read this week’s blog about the fentanyl crisis, here.

Sincerely,