U.S. residential electricity bills increased 5% in 2022, after adjusting for inflation

In nominal terms, the average monthly electricity bill for residential customers in the United States increased 13% from 2021 to 2022, rising from $121 a month to $137 a month. After adjusting for inflation–which reached 8% in 2022, a 40-year high–electricity bills increased 5%. Last year had the largest annual increase in average residential electricity spending since we began calculating it in 1984. The increase was driven by a combination of more extreme temperatures, which increased U.S. consumption of electricity for both heating and cooling, and higher fuel costs for power plants, which drove up retail electricity prices. More »

U.S. energy insecure households were billed more for energy than other households

On average, households in the United States were billed $1.04 per square foot for energy usage across all energy sources in 2020. Those households identifying as energy insecure were billed $0.20 more per square foot than the national average and $0.26 more on average than households that did not experience energy insecurity. Household energy insecurity is the inability to adequately meet basic household energy needs and describes households who face challenges in purchasing the energy they need because of cost. For our Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), energy insecurity is a measure we use to count households that have received a disconnection notice, have reduced or forgone basic necessities to pay energy bills, kept their houses at unsafe temperatures because of energy cost concerns, or been unable to repair heating or cooling equipment because of cost. More »

U.S. gasoline prices are down from 2022 heading into Memorial Day weekend

The retail price for regular-grade gasoline in the United States on May 22, the Monday before Memorial Day weekend, averaged $3.53 per gallon (gal), 26% (or $1.24/gal) lower than the inflation-adjusted price a year ago. Memorial Day gasoline prices last year were the highest since 2012. The American Automobile Association (AAA) expects 6% more miles traveled this Memorial Day weekend compared with last year because of lower gasoline prices. Although retail gasoline prices have come down from a year ago, they remain higher than during the period from 2019 through 2021. More »

EIA explores effects of liquefied natural gas exports on the U.S. natural gas market

In our Issues in Focus: Effects of Liquefied Natural Gas Exports on the U.S. Natural Gas Market supplement to our Annual Energy Outlook 2023 (AEO2023), we find that the volumes of liquefied natural gas exports (LNG) do affect average U.S. natural gas prices. However, the resulting range in natural gas prices in our new cases was narrower than the price range in recent history and the AEO2023 side cases despite a wide variety of U.S. LNG export volumes. More »

In 2021, Algeria produced record amounts of natural gas

In 2021, more natural gas was produced in Algeria than in any year since record-keeping began in 1980, according to the data in our recently updated Country Analysis Brief: Algeria. Algeria produced 9.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of dry natural gas in 2021, a 23.4% increase from the 8.0 Bcf/d the country produced in 2011. Of the natural gas produced in 2021, 53% was exported. Although the overall volume of exports was greater in 2021 compared with 2011, the percentage exported in 2021 was smaller than in 2011, when 60% of Algeria’s natural gas was exported. Domestic consumption has increased over the last decade, but recent upgrades to export infrastructure capacity give Algeria the option to export more of its natural gas. More »

EIA expects lower crude oil prices for the second half of 2023 and for 2024

We lowered our crude oil price forecast for the rest of 2023 and for 2024 in our May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) because of relatively rapid declines in the crude oil price since April. Between April 12, 2023, and May 4, 2023, the Brent crude oil price fell $16 per barrel (b) to $73/b; the West Texas Intermediate crude oil price fell $15/b to $69/b. We expect that a drop in OPEC production and increases in demand will lead to relatively moderate price increases over the next few months. More »