Heating with electricity usually means one monthly bill and no fuel deliveries, but this winter that bill is forecast to edge up. The Energy Information Administration says in its October 6 Short-Term Energy Outlook: “We forecast homes that use electricity as the main heating source will spend slightly more this winter.” The agency, part of the Energy Department, gives no dollar amount or percentage for the increase.
That wording matters for the households it touches. Anyone with baseboard heaters, electric furnaces or other electric systems pays the utility for every degree of warmth, so a higher rate or a colder month shows up directly on the bill. The question for these homes is how much room to leave in the winter budget and where to turn if a January bill runs high.
Households heating with electricity can look to The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit, which gathers heating, cooling and home-repair help and gives an application log for the requests that follow a high bill.
Get the bill-help guide for electric-heat homes →
The rate behind a slightly higher heating bill
Electric heating costs track the price of a kilowatt-hour, and the EIA’s electricity outlook shows that price rising. Residential electricity is forecast at 18.2 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2026, up from 17.3 cents in 2025. The agency expects 18.7 cents in 2027.
Wholesale power costs have moved too. The agency expects them to average $52 per megawatt-hour in 2026, 11 percent more than in 2025. It also reports that electricity use rose 4 percent in the third quarter, with residential use up 6 percent after a hot summer, and that winter storm Fern and high July temperatures affected wholesale prices.
Looking further out, the agency expects wholesale prices to ease to $49 per megawatt-hour on average in 2027, yet it still forecasts a higher home rate that year. Wholesale cost is only one piece of what a household pays, since the retail price also covers delivery and other costs. A utility’s own rate decisions can matter as much for one household as the national average does.
Weather is the second swing factor. The forecast assumes the winter the agency expects, and a colder stretch raises the kilowatt-hours a heater uses even when the rate holds still. A household with electric heat feels that more directly than one that heats with a fuel bought in advance.
How electric homes compare with other heating fuels
The outlook’s winter forecast sorts homes by main heating fuel. Electric homes are expected to spend slightly more. Homes using natural gas or propane, around half of U.S. households, are expected to spend less. Homes that burn heating oil, about 3 percent of households and mostly in the Northeast, face a 21 percent increase in spending.
So electric heat sits in the middle of the pack: not the sharp rise that oil customers face, and not the decline expected for gas and propane. For a household that has the choice, the forecast does not by itself make a case for changing systems, and the outlook does not weigh the cost of making a change.
Using less electricity is the part a household controls
The Energy Department’s Weatherization Assistance Program is aimed at low-income households and works by making homes more energy efficient. The department says participants see average savings of $372 or more every year, based on a national program evaluation, and that the program has helped more than 7.2 million families since 1976. It serves about 32,000 homes a year.
For an electrically heated home, less heat lost through walls, attics and windows means the heaters run less. That cuts kilowatt-hours directly, which is the quantity the bill multiplies by the rate.
Bill assistance for electric heat
The federal LIHEAP program helps low-income households with their home energy bills, and the Administration for Children and Families says assistance may include bill payment help. Households apply through state, tribal or local LIHEAP offices. Income limits follow the federal poverty guidelines and state median income estimates, which is why they differ from one state to the next.
Getting ready for a higher electric heating bill
A household that heats with electricity can start with last winter’s bills. Add up December, January and February, note the kilowatt-hours used and the cents per kilowatt-hour, and leave a margin above that total. The EIA’s word for this winter is “slightly,” so a modest cushion is a reasonable target.
Anyone who struggles with a winter bill should contact the utility early about payment arrangements and ask the state LIHEAP office about assistance before an account falls behind. Keep the latest bill, proof of income and a photo ID handy for applications. The EIA’s next outlook arrives on November 10, and it will show whether the winter forecast for electric homes has shifted.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit adds an application log and renewal calendar to heating, cooling and home-repair help, so a household can keep track of each assistance request and when it must be renewed.
Open the application log for electric heating help →
This piece was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the EIA and federal pages linked above.
