The lowest-income fifth of U.S. households spent 9.86% of income on electricity and natural gas in 2025, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA). That is nearly 10 cents of every dollar, up from 9.38% the year before. The figure appears in NEADA’s winter heating report, released September 14, ahead of a heating season the group expects to cost more.
What NEADA’s table shows for the lowest 20% of households
The number comes from a table in NEADA’s winter heating report. The row for the lowest 20% of households lists 2025 spending of $1,705 on electricity and natural gas against income of $17,291, which works out to 9.86% of income. The comparison year, 2024, stood at 9.38%, so the burden rose by 0.48 percentage point in a year. At 9.86%, the share sits 0.14 point below a full 10%, which is why the figure is described as nearly 10%.
The report is NEADA’s own publication. The table carries no outside citation, so the figure is NEADA’s, not a number attributed in the report to a federal survey. This article reports it as NEADA’s calculation.
The dollars behind the percentage
A percentage of income is easier to grasp in monthly terms. Divide $1,705 by twelve and the electricity and gas spending comes to about $142 a month. Divide $17,291 by twelve and the income comes to about $1,441 a month. Roughly $142 out of $1,441 is the 9.86% share.
The rent or mortgage, food, medicine and transportation all come out of the same $1,441. When the utility share rises, the rest of the budget has less room, which is the point NEADA makes when it says families are entering winter with little slack.
Electricity and natural gas, not every fuel
The scope of the figure matters. NEADA’s table labels the spending as electric and natural gas. It does not include propane, heating oil, wood or other fuels, so a household that heats with oil or propane faces a bill that the 9.86% does not capture. In that sense the number is a floor for the group’s total home energy cost, not the whole of it, though the report does not put a figure on the fuels left out.
The group counted is also defined by income rank, not by any program rule. The lowest 20% of households is a statistical slice, and it does not say who qualifies for energy assistance.
A winter forecast that raises the stakes
NEADA’s announcement of the report projects that the average household’s winter heating cost will rise 8.7 percent, to $1,030. NEADA said the increase is more than two and a half times the rate of inflation. The lowest-income fifth carries that increase on a smaller base of income, so the same bill takes a larger share.
Mark Wolfe, NEADA’s executive director, put it plainly in the group’s statement. “This is a warning that too many families are entering winter with no room left in their budgets,” he said.
LIHEAP: a federal program with state-run applications
The federal program aimed at this burden is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Community Services describes it on its LIHEAP overview page as a federally funded program that sends grants to states, territories and tribes. Households do not apply to Washington. They apply through a state or local LIHEAP agency.
The program covers a range of costs. HHS lists home heating bills, preventing energy shutoffs, reconnecting services, making homes more energy efficient, and repairing or replacing heating equipment. It also assists with cooling costs in summer and with weatherization and minor energy-related home repairs. To find where and how to apply locally, the page points to an online locator called Energyhelp, and it lists the National Energy Assistance Referral hotline at 1-866-674-6327, open weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Applying through the state or local agency costs nothing, and no paid help is needed to file. The overview page does not list income limits or benefit amounts, so the rules and the size of any payment are matters for the local agency.
What NEADA wants Congress to do
NEADA’s report asks for more money for the program, calling for an increase in LIHEAP funding from $4 billion to $7 billion. Wolfe framed the request as one of timing. “Congress cannot wait for the first cold snap,” he said. “LIHEAP funding should be increased now. Energy is not a luxury.”
The request is NEADA’s, and the report does not show that Congress has agreed to it. What the group has published is the burden figure, the heating projection and the funding ask together, all in the same September 14 report, which remains the source for every number in this article.
Sorting out home energy help for older households
The burden figure says how large the utility share is, but it leaves open how a household finds and tracks the help that exists for heating, cooling and repairs. LIHEAP is one program, and older homeowners and renters may also be weighing property-tax relief.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit includes heating, cooling and home-repair help, plus an application log and renewal calendar for keeping the dates straight.
Find the heating, cooling and home-repair help in The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit →
This article was prepared with AI assistance and checked against the cited NEADA and HHS sources.
