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Average US households will pay almost $5,750 this year to power their homes and vehicles -- some $3450 on gasoline and $2300 on residential energy costs.

Even with the recent price drop, average gasoline prices in 2008 are projected to be almost 17% higher than they were in 2007. Consumers heating their homes with electricity will see a nearly 10% increase in their heating bills this winter while those using natural gas will see their heating bills increase by about 4%. Consumers using heating oil or propane will enjoy a reduction in their bills of 13 and 8 percent, respectively…but note that even for these consumers, their bills this year will be 17% (heating oil) and almost 15% (propane) higher than they were just two years ago.

New 2008 Average Fuel Costs

The most recent EIA Short Term Energy Outlook (STEO) projects that:

• The projected average price of gas for 2008 has gone down to $3.29 from $3.56 as was projected in October. The projected cost per unit of all four main heating fuels have also gone down significantly from previous projections, except for electricity which remained stable.
• At $3.29/gallon, gas prices are more than 16% higher than they were in 2007. The average U.S. household is now spending about $3450/year on gas and about $2300/year on residential energy costs.
• Taking into account the projections for both gas prices and home energy prices, the average U.S. household is now projected to spend about $5750/year on energy, about 13% more than it did in 2007.

Winter 2008-2009 Home Heating Costs

The STEO projects that this winter (October 2008-March 2009) households will on average spend slightly more than last year on home heating, depending on which fuel they use

• Natural gas-heated homes will spend almost $900 on heating this winter, an increase of about 4% over last winter and 9% over winter 2006-2007.
• Homes that use heating oil will spend almost $1700 on heating this winter, a decrease of 13% compared to last winter although it’s an increase of 17% over winter 2006-2007.
• Propane-heated homes will spend about $1550 on heating this winter, a decrease of 8% compared to last winter although it’s an increase of 15% over winter 2006-2007.
• Homes that use electric heat will spend almost $950 on heating this winter, an increase of almost 10% over last winter and 14% over winter 2006-2007.