Average household heating fuel costs this winter will be 15 percent higher than last year, with heating oil and natural gas users taking the biggest hit due to more expensive crude oil and colder weather than last winter, the government’s top energy forecasting agency said Tuesday.
The cost to heat a U.S. home this winter will average $1,137 which would be up from $986 last year, the Energy Information Administration said in its latest winter forecast.
Heating oil bills for the heating season, which runs from October through March, will be up 23 percent at $2,388. The retail price for heating oil should be $3.89 a gallon, up from $3.31 last winter.
“The projected increase is consistent with higher crude oil prices and projections of lower distillate inventories than last year going into the heating season,” the EIA said.
Households that use natural gas will see an 18 percent jump in heating costs to $1,010, the agency said.
Propane users will see their winter bills rise 11 percent to $1,861 and the nearly one-third of U.S. households that rely on electricity for heat will pay 10 percent more at $947 for the season.