A new report called The Rising Burden of Energy Costs on Ohio Families examines the escalating expenses Ohio’s middle class face across the energy spectrum. The report, compiled by energy economist Gene Trisko, paints a bleak picture: while national median income levels have risen, those in Ohio have fallen.

Ohio lost 207,600 manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2005. In addition, 52 percent of families are spending 19 percent of their after-tax income on energy costs.

For those families below the poverty line (an annual income under $10,000), the burden is even greater: 47 percent of their after-tax income goes to cover their residential and transportation energy needs.

While energy costs have risen across the board, some fuels have jumped more dramatically than others. Prices for gasoline and home heating oil have increased by 104 percent and 125 percent respectively, while natural gas for residential heating has increased by 67 percent. Comparatively, the cost of residential electricity has risen only 26 percent.

The relatively small increase of electricity pricing is in part due to Ohio utilities’ use of low-cost coal as a power source, which generated more than 85 percent of the state’s electricity in 2007.

Download the entire 11-page report