DAYTON, Ohio — Heating costs for households should be lower this winter than last, with the biggest beneficiaries being consumers who heat with propane (14 percent lower) and natural gas (12 percent lower), the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a winter-fuels forecast Tuesday.
The EIA projects that costs of heating with electricity or heating oil will each be 2 percent lower than last winter.
The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, projects that the average household expenditure for space-heating fuels will be $960 for the season from last Thursday, Oct. 1 through March 31, 2010. That would represent a decrease of $84, or 8 percent, from last winter.
The amount of natural gas in storage is projected to reach a record high later this fall — more than 3.8 trillion cubic feet, the EIA said.
The EIA cautioned, however, that energy prices remain volatile, reflecting uncertainty in the energy markets.
Slightly milder weather than last winter also will help to reduce heating-fuels consumption, although that will vary by region, the EIA said.
The Midwest, a major market for propane and natural gas, is projected to be about 4 percent warmer than last winter, while the West is projected to be about 4 percent colder, according to the government.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects that the lower 48 states, excluding Hawaii and Alaska, will be 1 percent warmer this winter compared with a year ago, and 1 percent milder than the 30-year average from 1971 to 2000.
Petroleum prices will gradually increase, the EIA projects. It forecasts that the price of west Texas crude oil will average about $70 per barrel from this month through March, a $19 increase from last winter. The government expects that average price to rise to about $75 per barrel by December 2010 as the U.S. and world economies improve and demand increases.
John Nolan writes for the Dayton Daily News. E-mail: jnolan(at)DaytonDailyNews.com.