For many people in the U.S., this winter is getting colder — and staying warm is getting more expensive.
Nationwide, the December average temperature is expected to be 8% colder than the average temperatures of the last 10 Decembers, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A colder winter means more power will be required to maintain most homes at safe temperatures. For consumers, that means steeper monthly energy bills.
A new report this week estimates that U.S. households could spend an average of $995 on home heating alone from mid-November to March, which is $84 more than they spent last winter.
The report is from the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA), a policy organization that represents state governments seeking federal funds for low-income home energy programs. It predicts that heating costs will rise by an average of 9.2% over the next three months.
But it's not just the cold that is driving up prices for consumers. The group notes that residential electricity costs are at their highest levels in a decade. This year alone, the average monthly electric bill has already jumped 10%, according to the report issued Tuesday.
The higher cost of staying warm this winter comes as U.S. consumers say they are struggling more broadly with increased costs of living.
It’s an issue that is politically sensitive for President Donald Trump, who has tried to downplay the idea that affordability has become a major problem for voters.
But many people are already struggling to keep up with their power bills, NEADA said. And about 4 million households could be at risk of having their power shut off this winter.
“Energy is not a luxury—it is a necessity,” Mark Wolfe, NEADA’s executive director, said in a release. “No family should lose power because they cannot afford rising utility bills.”
People who rely on electricity to heat their homes could be hit with even heftier heating bills than homes run on other kinds of energy.
Average costs for electric heating could rise to $1,223 this winter, said NEADA, while households that use natural gas could pay average heating costs closer to $704 for the winter.
Aside from changes in the weather forecast, another factor driving the increase in electricity prices is the surging demand for power from artificial intelligence data centers.
Data centers use massive amounts of electricity. As a result, the cost of wholesale electricity in areas near AI data centers has soared 267% in the last five years alone, a Bloomberg News analysis found.
The cost of repairing and maintaining America's aging electric power grid is also contributing to higher prices, NEADA says.
