Heating costs to rise this winter as supplies dwindle

(NewsNation) — Home heating costs are soaring as fuel supplies tighten across the globe, setting up this winter to be extra costly.

Americans are already dealing with record inflation. The price of gas, groceries and rent have all gone up.

Now, the Department of Energy is predicting that if you use natural gas to heat your home, that bill is probably going up as well. The department expects heating bills to rise about 28%, which the Energy Information Administration estimates is an extra $200 for the winter.

Heating oil is projected to increase about 27% this winter, and those who rely on electricity should expect an increase of about 10%, or an estimated $123 extra, for the cold months, the predictions stated.

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For the Northeast states that mostly rely on heating oil — New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maine — expect to see caps put on those purchases, according to a report from Axios. The rationing measures are only to prevent panic buying and hoarding.

Heating oil stockpiles are lower than what they’ve been in previous years, partly due to the pandemic and partly due to the war in Ukraine, as well as product pricing.

“There’s just no incentive to store large amounts of products given the market conditions for purchasing more expensive heating oil in the future,” the president of the Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association Michael Ferrante said. “It’s best to take a just-in-time inventory approach.”

If a family is in need of assistance, they can go to their state’s website and see if they qualify for energy assistance. Congress allotted a billion dollars more to these programs last month. Some cities are also considering implementing moratoriums so that heat does not get shut off in homes during the winter.