Winter heating costs expected to be higher than last winter, EIA forecasts
Most U.S. households can expect higher heating expenditures from October through March compared to the last two winter seasons, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Winter Fuels Outlook.
The report cites an increased heating demand due to relatively colder weather and higher fuel prices as a reason for the increase in expenditures.
EIA based its projections from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data, which stated that winter weather will be approximately 13 percent colder than last winter and closer to the average of the previous 10 winters.
Due to the fact that weather patterns present such uncertainty to winter energy forecasts, EIA’s report includes projections for 10 percent colder and 10 percent warmer scenarios. Yet in the past 10 winters, actual temperatures were more than 10 percent colder than NOAA’s September forecasts once and warmer than its forecasts twice.
EIA said that fuel expenditures for any household depended on the size and energy efficiency of the home and its heating equipment, indoor temperature preferences, and local weather conditions.
Further, the report noted that the choice of primary heating fuel varied considerably by region, which resulted in regional differences in heating expenditures. As an example, natural gas is currently the most common space heating fuel in each region other than the South, where electricity is more prevalent.
