Marketplace Morning Report

Episode: Heating bills are going up this winter
Date: February 16, 2026
Host: Nova Safo (for David Brancaccio)
Duration: ~10 minutes

Overview

This episode spotlights two key topics:

1. Rising Heating Costs: Explores why heating bills are surging this winter, with insights from experts and a focus on how low- and middle-income households are coping.
2. IRS Challenges: Discusses the IRS’s reduced workforce and what it means for taxpayers this filing season, along with the impact on enforcement and support.

The episode concludes with a brief tech-business update regarding Amazon Ring and a teaser for the affiliated podcast, “This Is Uncomfortable.”

Segment 1: Heating Bills Are Going Up This Winter

[00:59 – 03:19]

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• Nationwide Inflation Context:
  January's Consumer Price Index showed inflation cooling, with a 2.4% annual gain—lower than predicted—but utilities are an exception, rising faster than the average.

• Higher Heating Costs:
  The National Energy Assistance Directors Association forecasts average winter heating costs at about $1,000—significantly higher than last year.

• Role of Extreme Weather:

  • “It has been absolutely frigid in much of the country this winter, including in places that are not used to it.” (Samantha Fields, 01:34)
  • Even southern states, like Florida, saw freezing temperatures.

• Impact on Low- and Middle-Income Households:

  • Katrina Metzler emphasizes the unique struggle for low-income families:
    • “Those types of conditions make a difference in people’s bills and their ability to pay those bills.” (Katrina Metzler, 01:44)
    • “I consider myself a middle income household and I’ve struggled this winter in Virginia with paying my utility bills.” (Katrina Metzler, 02:04)
  • About one in six U.S. households is behind on utility bills.

• Utility Monopolies & Lack of Alternatives:

  • Mark Wolf from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association:
    • “You can’t say, gee, I’ll go down the street and buy a different brand of electricity.” (Mark Wolf, 02:35)
    • Energy isn’t like groceries; there’s little consumer choice.

• Structural Pressures on Utility Costs:

  • Higher infrastructure demands from new data centers, long-delayed upgrades, and elevated natural gas prices will likely continue driving up costs:
    • “We have to catch up… put all that together… the cost of electricity and heat is likely to keep rising.” (Mark Wolf, 02:47)

Notable Quotes

• “Lots of low income households struggle to afford heat every year, but this winter is worse, both because of the weather and because electricity and natural gas prices are higher.”
  — Katrina Metzler, National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition [01:50]

• “It’s like everything is going wrong. You have higher prices, colder winter, and people need to buy more of an expensive product.”
  — Mark Wolf, National Energy Assistance Directors Association [02:23]

Segment 2: IRS Workforce Strains and Tax Season Complications

[04:53 – 07:56]

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• IRS Staffing Crisis:
  The agency lost over a quarter of its workforce and 75% of senior leadership in the past year, compounding difficulties created by the recent government shutdown and new, complex tax regulations.

• Delayed Hiring & Undertraining:

  • The IRS was slow to bring on new hires; only 2% of needed positions for certain roles were filled.
  • Many current employees are undertrained and people from across departments are being shifted onto the front lines, especially for telephone support.

• Impacts for Tax Filers:

  • Straightforward virtual filers will likely fare fine.
  • Those with more complex returns—such as claims involving new provisions (tips exemption, overtime, car loan benefits)—could face guidance shortfalls and long hold times:
    • “There isn’t wonderful guidance about it... if you want to try and call the IRS for help, you’ll probably be on hold for quite a while.” (Vanessa Williamson, 06:48)

• Weaker Tax Enforcement:

  • Significant reductions in enforcement staff, especially those focused on high earners:
    • “We have lost a huge amount of our enforcement staff... that’s where most of the tax gap is. That’s where most of the underreporting is.” (Vanessa Williamson, 07:03)
  • Could lead to long-term revenue losses.

• Future Recovery Needs:

  • Vanessa Williamson calls for “massive restaffing,” renewed focus on hiring skilled workers (both for ordinary taxpayers and high-wealth enforcement), and modernized technology to restore capacity.

Notable Quotes

• “It definitely means the current set of employees are under trained... shifting people from all over the agency to frontline phone service to try and fill in the gaps. But it's problematic, to say the least.”
  — Vanessa Williamson, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center [05:51, 06:04]

• “If you want to try and call the IRS for help, you’ll probably be on hold for quite a while.”
  — Vanessa Williamson [06:48]

• “We’re going to have to do a massive restaffing of this agency. [...] We lost a ton of IT people this year and you know, this was just a huge setback for an agency that had actually been on an upswing for several years.”
  — Vanessa Williamson [07:30]

Segment 3: Tech Business Brief – Amazon Ring Update

[07:59 – 08:38]

Key Discussion Points & Insights

• Amazon Ring & Flock Safety:
  • Amazon-owned Ring ended its partnership with Flock Safety (a police surveillance tech firm) following public backlash against a Super Bowl ad, which many saw as invasive rather than heartwarming.
  • The ad showed Ring cameras tracking a lost dog, raising privacy concerns.

Segment 4: Additional Programming Teaser

[08:38 – 09:10]

• ‘This Is Uncomfortable’ Podcast:
  • Upcoming episode featuring Sam Sanders, addressing love, money, and tricky family financial situations.
  • Memorable advice:
    “When you are experiencing an adult in your life who is acting like a child, that is the time at which you most need to be an adult.”
    — Sam Sanders [08:56]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Heating Bills Discussion: 00:59 – 03:19
• IRS Workforce & Tax Season: 04:53 – 07:56
• Amazon Ring and Flock Safety News: 07:59 – 08:38
• ‘This Is Uncomfortable’ Teaser: 08:38 – 09:10

Tone

The episode maintains a pragmatic, clear-eyed tone. Experts and reporters speak compassionately about the struggles facing households due to rising utility costs, and lay out IRS challenges in frank, accessible language. Soundbites are direct and occasionally wry, particularly around the realities facing both taxpayers and the agencies meant to serve them.