Heating costs in US will be lower this winter

Houston

AFTER enduring frigid temperatures and higher energy costs last winter, many US consumers will spend considerably less this winter, mostly because a warmer season is forecast, the Energy Department projected on Tuesday.

The roughly half of US households that heat with natural gas can expect a decline of 5 per cent in their gas expenditures despite slightly higher residential prices as homes use 10 per cent less gas, the department estimated in its report on winter fuels.

Homes that rely on heating oil, mostly in the north-east, can expect to spend 15 per cent less this winter because of the recent drop in world oil prices. Homes that heat primarily with electricity, the norm through most of the south, can expect to save 2 per cent, with 3 per cent higher prices but 5 per cen…