WASHINGTON — Heating U.S. homes with oil this winter will cost a painful $450 more than a year ago, another slap to families already reeling from high gasoline and food costs and fearful of losing their heat because of unpaid bills.
Gas, propane and electricity for home heating will go up as well, but not as much, the government says.
Even as oil prices are plummeting and plenty of natural gas is going into storage, people should brace for higher heating bills “across the board” no matter what fuel is used or region of the country, said Howard Gruenspecht, acting chief of the federal Energy Information Administration.
Fuel-oil users — about a third of households in the Northeast — will experience the biggest hit with an expected heating bill of $2,388 on average for the October- March heating season, 23 percent higher than what it cost last winter.
The price of natural gas, used in half of the nation’s households, will increase an average of 18 percent to $1,010 over the heating season — about $155 more than last winter. People who heat with propane or electricity will see a 10 percent to 11 percent increase in costs, the agency said.
Natural-gas supplies will be plentiful this winter, with storage in November expected to be well above the five-year average, and prices have dropped below what they were a year ago. But many utilities purchased gas for storage this past summer when prices were at their peak and will pass those costs on to customers this winter.
Gruenspecht acknowledged that the winter-fuel-cost estimates are based on assumptions made before the credit crunch and the possibility of a more severe global economic decline.
Some people have not yet paid last winter’s heating bills, much less this past summer’s electricity tab from cooling their homes. A recent Associated Press survey found that utility shutoffs because of unpaid bills have been running 17 percent to 22 percent higher than last year in some parts of the country.
