Expect high heating costs this winter due in part to rising fuel costs

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Households across the country are likely to spend more on energy this winter, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Winter Fuels Outlook.

The EIA predicts households will spend more due to higher fuel prices combined with higher heating demand because of a forecast of a slightly colder winter.

“Based on NOAA’s most recent winter forecast, we assume temperatures for the winter of 2022– 23 in most of the country will be slightly colder than both last winter and the average winter for the previous 10 winters,” the EIA stated.

The EIA says nearly half of all U.S. households heat with natural gas. They expect those households will spend about $930 this winter, which is 28% more than they spend last winter.

“Cold weather can affect household heating expenditures in two ways. First, cold weather raises the amount of energy required to keep a house at a specific temperature. Second, because cold weather raises demand and could cause supply disruptions, it can cause energy prices to rise, which could be more severe during a time of low fuel inventories,” the EIA stated.

Here in Southern Nevada, we’re already seeing our bills go up.

NV Energy raised rates on October 1st because of the rising fuel costs.

We spoke with an NV Energy spokesperson last month about the increase.

“We’ve seen an increase like everyone else in the cost of natural gas and we pass that along to our customers, dollar for dollar there is no markup, no profit to NV Energy. But this year we have raised that portion of the rate to recover those increasing natural gas costs,” Jennifer Schuricht said.

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