DOE’s Winter Fuel Outlook Predicts Five Percent Drop in Heating Cost for Oil Heat This Winter

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) predicts that most U.S. households will spend about the same or less on energy than they did last winter, depending on a household’s main space heating fuel and the region where they live. Generally, retail energy prices in the DOE’s Winter Fuel Outlook are lower than they were last winter, but temperatures across much of the country are set to be colder this year, meaning homes will use more energy for space heating. Heating energy costs for homeowners will be less than last year for heating oil. The DOE is predicting it will cost 5 percent less to heat with heating oil compared to last year. Heating with propane will be the same as last year while heating with natural gas will increase by 1% over last year.

Meanwhile, heating with electricity will cost consumers 2 percent more than last year. EIA projects total heating costs for the Northeast in the base case scenario as follows: natural gas $772; electricity $1391; propane $1674; heating oil $1410. According to the EIA, these costs could go up or down depending on colder or warmer winter weather than used in its predicted weather baseline.