Sharp Increases In Winter Heating Costs Cause Worry, Anxiety To Spike

ACROSS AMERICA — Home heating costs are expected to rise sharply this winter, especially for households that use natural gas and heating oil, the Energy Department said Wednesday.

The bleak report sparked worry by some that local home heating assistance programs may not be able to make up the difference for struggling families.

The agency projects natural gas bills across the nation will jump by 28 percent over last winter, heating oil bills will go up 27 percent, electricity will be 10 percent higher, and propane will cost 5 percent more.

The surge in home heating costs comes on top of stubborn inflation that is raising the price of almost everything. Inflation rates accelerated last month with consumer prices, excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, growing 6.6 percent, the fastest such pace in four decades. Overall, the September Consumer Price Index was up 8.2 percent from the year prior.

Nearly half of American households use natural gas for heat.

Customers in the Midwest are expected to see a 33 percent increase in costs and will pay an average of $1,013 more over the winter, according to the projections. Costs in the Northeast are expected to increase 23 percent, increasing costs by an average of $1,094 this winter. People living in the West will pay about $834 more, an increase of 29 percent, and people living in the South will pay $761 more, an increase of 24 percent. » Read more regional energy cost projections.

People who need help paying their heating bills should check to see if they’re eligible for assistance under the federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

Congress added $1 billion to the LIHEAP fund, strained during the third-hottest summer on record, bringing it to $4.8 billion. But the amount of assistance available falls short of last year, when pandemic relief packages took the fund to $8 billion.

Advocacy groups across the country are pressuring utilities to implement a moratorium on winter shut-offs.

The projected spike in winter’s heating bills — the highest in more than a decade, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association — are the result of converging factors.

Global energy consumption has rebounded from the early days of the pandemic, and supply was barely keeping pace before the war in Ukraine further reduced supplies. The situation is even bleaker in Europe, where Russia’s continued curtailment of natural gas is pushing prices upward and causing painful shortages.

Anxiety is growing among consumers across the country. The pain will be especially acute in New England, which is heavily reliant on heating oil to keep homes warm. It’s projected to cost more than $2,300 to heat a typical home with heating oil this winter, the Energy Department said.

In Maine, Aaron Raymo saw the writing on the wall and began stocking up on heating oil in 5-gallon increments over the summer as costs crept upward. He filled a container with heating oil as he could afford it, usually on paydays, and used a heating assistance program to top off his 275-gallon oil tank with the arrival of colder weather.

His family is trying to avoid being forced into a difficult decision — choosing between food or heating their home.

“It’s a hard one,” he told the Associated Press. “What are you going to choose for food, or what amount of fuel oil are you going to choose to stay warm?”

Lisa McGee, who coordinates the heating aid program in Lewiston, Maine, told the AP that “people are scared. They’re worried. They’re frustrated.”

“There’s more anxiety this year,” she said.

Mark Wolfe, the executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, said a “crisis is coming.”

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and factors in play that could drive prices higher,” he told the AP.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.