USA forecast calls for lower heating bills this winter

The average cost for heating homes this winter with natural gas will average $578 in total from October to March, according to the Energy Information Administration, the independent analysis wing of the U.S. Department of Energy.

In releasing its winter heating outlook, the EIA said heating costs for natural gas users will be lower than the past three winters and fall 10% from last winter.

It says the biggest savings should be for those using propane or heating oil, with homes that use propane spending $322 less and those with heating oil spending $459 less than last winter.

According to forecasters, temperatures were unusually warm in the West last winter, but are expected to be 12 percent cooler this home heating season.

That would reduce individual bills for the five-month period that starts November 1 by $50 or more, she said.

Ratepayers whose homes are heated by electricity will see the smallest decline, just a small $30 drop from last winter to $930. The reason behind the predicted drop is a combination of lower fuel prices, and expected warmer weather across the country.

At Madison Gas & Electric Co., the utility is forecasting even larger savings of $110 to $160 from last winter. Those using electricity in the US will see their costs drop 3 percent from a year ago, the agency said.

Atmos Energy, which serves about 90,000 customers in Johnson, Wyandotte, Miami and Douglas counties, said the gas costs it’s passing on to customers for September and October were the lowest since 2011 – and about 10 percent lower than a year ago. About 39 percent of all USA households rely on electricity for heat, ranging from 15 percent in the Northeast to 63 percent in the South, EIA said. That year, southern Wisconsin’s temperatures were 6 to 8 degrees above average.