EIA analysts also noted a $459 decline in winter costs to $1,437 for average homes using heating oil.
Advertisement
NIPSCO announced a few exciting news for customers on the forecast for home and heating bills this winter.
“If winter temperatures come in as expected by USA government weather forecasters, US consumers will pay less to stay warm this winter no matter what heating fuel they use”, said Adam Sieminski, administrator of the EIA.
The company doesn’t mark up rates, but the price is impacted by a variety of factors including how much supply the company has, how much it “hedges” future prices and how much it buys on the open market.
Heating-oil consumers will pay $1,392, the lowest since at least 2008, the agency forecasts.
Those who burn natural gas to keep warm from October through March will pay an average of $578, down 10 percent from a year ago and the least since the winter of 2011-2012, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. Demand for the fuel may drop 6 percent because of higher-than-average temperatures, the EIA said.
– ELECTRICITY: Electricity is the only energy source whose price is not dropping.
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. That’s coinciding with what government forecasters expect will be a warmer-than-usual season in the Midwest, South and Northeast, curbing consumer demand for the fuels.
Natural gas utilities based in Madison are indicating that customers should see heating costs come down again this winter if weather conditions are normal.
Advertisement
Analysts attribute the lower fuel costs for home heating to several factors, including a slight decline in electricity costs and residential natural gas prices that are 4 percent lower than a year ago.
