Heating costs cool, offering some relief

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Most U.S. homeowners should get some relief with heating bills this winter.

The price of natural gas, the fuel that supplies 70 percent of the nation’s heat, is relatively low for the second year in a row, and falling. Also, forecasters predict a warmer winter across much of the country — especially in the Southeast, which suffered through a historically cold winter last year.

But those who rely on heating oil, and residents of the Pacific Northwest, may need to bundle up. Unlike natural gas, crude-oil prices have risen sharply, pushing up the price of heating oil 16 percent over last year. And forecasters are predicting a cold winter in the Northwest.

Energy prices of all types rose sharply in the years leading up to the financial crisis, then all collapsed with the economy. Even as the economy has started to recover, natural-gas prices have stayed low because supplies are ample and growing, says Jen Snyder, head of North American gas research at the consulting and analysis firm Wood Mackenzie.

Last winter, the nationwide average cost to heat a home from November to March was $978, down 6 percent from the previous winter, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association.

Analysts predict that won’t change much this year.

The Energy Information Administration releases its outlook for heating-fuel costs today.