Winter Heating Costs Expected To Soar 50%
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WASHINGTON – Heating bills are headed through the roof, expected to average 50% higher this winter for homes that use natural gas. People in parts of the Midwest are likely to pay even more – as much as $1,600 for the winter months if the weather is especially bad.
Utility officials said yesterday they expect to have plenty of natural gas despite disruptions from two hurricanes. But the utilities have been paying substantially more for the fuel they have been putting in storage, and are likely to face even higher costs this winter.
Those fuel costs account for about 70% of what a residential customer pays, although that varies among gas utilities.
How high retail heating costs will be is likely to depend as much on the cold as anything else, with utilities forced to buy more of the expensive gas if demand increases.
“The biggest driver for natural gas bills will be weather,” the executive vice president of the American Gas Association, Roger Cooper, said.
The AGA, which represents gas utilities, warned if there is a colder than normal winter in the Midwest, natural gas could cost homeowners as much as 70% more than last season.
The executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, Mark Wolfe, called on Congress to substantially increase the federal low-income energy assistance program to help people who may be unable to pay their higher hearing bills.
Last year, the average gas user nationwide spent about $700 for heat over the winter months, although prices in the Midwest – where people rely heavily on natural gas for home heating – averaged about $950 for the season.
The AGA gave a briefing on the expected winter heating situation in advance of the Energy Department’s winter outlook report to be released today.
The EIA report also is likely to show soaring heating costs for people who heat their homes with fuel oil. About four of every five homeowners heat with natural gas in the Midwest, compared with 52% nationwide. While half of the homes in New England heat with fuel oil, 37% in that region use natural gas, according to the AGA.
