U.S. consumers spent 4.4 percent more to keep their homes warm this past winter than they did the previous year because of harsh weather, according to a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Energy expenditures rose from about $321 billion during the 2012-2013 winter to about $335 billion this past winter, Stacy MacIntyre said in the report released Wednesday.
Frigid weather led to consumers spending more to heat their homes but less to fuel their cars, the report states.
Prices for heating oil, propane and natural gas saw the biggest increase during the 2013-2014 winter, according to the administration.
Heating oil and propane expenditures together increased by $6 billion, and natural-gas expenses rose by $5.8 billion.
“Heating oil and propane make the smallest contribution to aggregate energy expenditures because they are used predominantly for space heating and are used to heat a relatively small number of homes across the country,” the report states. “However, their use is concentrated in areas of the country that were hit the hardest with cold weather this past winter.”
In Arkansas, the average monthly bill for CenterPoint Energy residential customers last winter was $123.63 compared with $93.31 the previous year, spokesman Alicia Dixon said in an email, a 32.5 percent increase.
The average amount of natural gas burned by a CenterPoint Energy customer during the winter months was 121 ccf (100 cubic feet), Dixon said.
That’s up from 92 ccf during the same months in 2012 and 2013. The result was higher bills, she said.
“The increase in the bill was based on higher natural gas usage because of the cold winter and not on increases in the cost of natural gas, which remains a great energy value,” she said.
“CenterPoint Energy’s cost for natural gas, which is passed on to our customers with no mark-up or profit, was essentially the same during the winter of 2013-2014 as it was the prior winter.”
The demand for natural gas was at “levels we never really have seen,” said Chris Tremulis, an associate editor for the energy industry publication Platts.
Natural-gas prices could see another spike next winter because inventories are at their lowest levels since 2003, he said.
For the week ending May 16, there was 1,266 billion cubic feet of natural gas in storage, that’s down 37.9 percent from the same time last year, the energy administration said Thursday.
The agency’s natural-gas storage report said storage is below the five-year average.
“So the market consensus right now is that we are going to have a very tough time refilling storage by next winter,” Tremulis said. That could lead to higher natural-gas prices later in the year.
“If we saw anything like last winter, it’s a guarantee we’ll see prices as high or higher,” he said. “If we have a mild winter, this could all be a moot point.”
How much natural-gas prices change this year will also depend on how hot the summer is because electric generators also use natural gas.
“We’re definitely in a wait-and-see mode,” Tremulis said.