Warm temperatures and low oil prices are reducing home heating expenditures (1/27/2016)

A combination of warmer-than-expected temperatures and lower-than-expected oil prices have contributed to a reduction in forecast average heating expenditures this winter (October-March) compared with EIA’s forecast in the October 2015 Winter Fuels Outlook. Each October, EIA produces a Winter Fuels Outlook that projects heating fuel expenditures for the coming winter (October through March) based on EIA's forecast of fuel prices and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) forecast for temperatures (as measured by heating degree days). As discussed in the October 2015 Winter Fuels Outlook, the winter of 2015–16 was expected to have lower expenditures than the winter of 2014–15. In the time since that outlook was released, the weather has been much warmer than expected and prices have fallen faster than anticipated, resulting in even lower heating expenditures as forecast in the January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). ... More »