US Winter Household Fuel-Spending Changes: Four EIA Forecasts for 2026–27

EIA’s October 6, 2026 base case projects a 21% increase in heating-oil spending, a 4% increase for electricity, a 3% decline for propane and a 9% decline for natural gas in homes using each fuel as their main source of space heating. The period is November 2026 through March 2027, compared with November 2025 through March 2026. All four main fuels are included; a top-ten scope would be artificial. Values are the published whole-percent changes in the U.S. average expenditure rows of the visible Energy expenditures tables, not the page’s hidden older forecast tables or its price-change rows. Spending is nominal and includes other uses of the home’s main heating fuel, such as water heating and cooking; it is not space-heating-only spending or the entire multi-fuel energy budget. The propane average covers the Northeast, Midwest and South, weighted by households. These are weather- and price-dependent forecasts, not observed bills. Different housing populations prevent interpreting the ranking as savings from switching fuels. The release and approaching winter provide a timely hook as of October 30, 2026; no rise in search demand has been measured.