Americans who are shivering through an arctic...

Americans who are shivering through an arctic blast may take solace in knowing that relatively mild December weather saved many of them some home heating money. The average December home heating bill for Americans was $107.92, some $9.73 less than would have been expected in average weather for the month, according to government estimates. Overall, December heating costs were $700 million below what would have been expected had the weather been average. The nation’s total December heating bill was estimated at nearly $7.8 billion. The average bill in the Pacific region (California, Washington and Oregon) was $82.86, or $5.71 above normal.