GO LONG ON BLANKETS AND SWEATERS: US Homes Face Longest Streak of Energy Bill Increases in Decades. “Gas bills in September were about 33% higher than a year earlier to chalk up an 18th consecutive double-digit percentage gain, according to Labor Department data. That’s the longest streak in more than three decades, when a 58-month run of such gains ended in September 1983. Electric bills, which rose 15.5% last month, are on a seven-month streak of double-digit gains, the longest run in 16 years.”