DOE Issues 2025 Representative Average Unit Costs of Five Residential Energy Sources. Natural Gas Continues to be the Best Energy Value.

On Thursday, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Federal Register Notice forecasting the representative average unit costs of five residential energy sources for the year 2025 pursuant to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (Act). The five sources are electricity, natural gas, No. 2 heating oil, propane, and kerosene. Below is the representative cost for the 5 sources in terms of Per Million BTU’s and in dollars:

Electricity …………………………………………. 50.47 or $ per million BTU’s or 17.22 ¢/kWh
Natural Gas ………………………………………. 14.37 or $ per million BTU’s or $1.43/therm or $14.9/MCF
No. 2 Heating Oil ……………………………….  25.91 $ per million BTU’s or $3.56/gallon
Propane …………………………………………..   25.68 $ per million BTU’s or $2.35/gallon
Kerosene ………………………………………….  25.11 $ per million BTU’s or $3.39/gallon

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (September 9, 2025), and Annual Energy Outlook (April 15, 2025).

Notes: Prices include taxes.

These costs become effective April 27, 2026, and are used in determining the estimated annual operating cost of appliances covered in the Federal Trade Commission appliance labeling rule. FTC Energy cost labels (yellow stickers) that are required on some appliances use the representative energy cost to provide consumers information on the annual operating cost of the specific appliance.  Note that the estimated national average cost of electricity is 3.5 times more than the cost of natural gas and this natural gas cost advantage for consumers needs to be considered by proponents for “electrification” and natural gas bans and their continued push for electrification by not allowing or supporting removal of natural gas appliances from homes and businesses.