Electricity averaged 19.6 cents per kilowatt-hour across U.S. cities in September, up from 18.8 cents in September 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau’s table puts that at a 4.3 percent rise over twelve months, with no change at all from August. The larger energy jump is in heating oil, which cost nearly 65 percent more than a year earlier.
Electricity: up 4.3 percent in a year, flat for a month
The 19.6-cent figure is the U.S. city average retail price for September 2026, one of the average-price series the bureau publishes alongside the Consumer Price Index. August was also 19.6 cents, which is why the one-month change reads 0.0 percent. The 4.3 percent is the year-over-year move, from 18.8 cents in September 2025.
A price per kilowatt-hour is not a bill. A household using 900 kilowatt-hours in a month would have paid $169.20 at last September’s price and $176.40 at this September’s, a difference of $7.20. Actual bills depend on usage, rate plans and local charges that a national average does not capture.
Regional prices run differently. In the bureau’s 12-state Midwest region, electricity averaged 19.7 cents in September, up 9.4 percent from 18.0 cents a year earlier and up 1.5 percent from 19.4 cents in August. That is more than double the national year-over-year rise.
When a higher power bill cannot be paid
Households that fall behind on a power or heating bill have programs to turn to, and the rules differ by state. The Ohio Winter Crisis Program, run by the state Department of Job and Family Services, takes applications from November 2, 2026 through March 31, 2027 and makes one payment per winter. The maximum is $175 for customers of regulated electric or gas utilities, $750 for municipal or cooperative utilities and $1,200 for bulk fuels such as fuel oil.
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Ohio ties the payment to trouble already on the bill. Applicants need a shut-off notice, a disconnection, a need for new service or a transfer, a default on the PIPP Plus payment plan, or 25 percent or less of a bulk fuel supply. Income must be at or below 175 percent of federal guidelines, which is $27,930 a year for one person and $57,750 for a household of four.
Applicants bring a list of household members, proof of income for each adult, recent utility bills, proof of citizenship or legal residency, and birth dates and Social Security numbers for everyone in the home. A separate benefit of up to $1,500 covers heating unit repair or replacement. The appointment is made through a local Energy Assistance Provider or Community Action Agency.
Booking that appointment also buys time. Once a household has scheduled one, regulated gas and electric utilities in Ohio must delay disconnection for 30 days. The delay can be used once per year for each utility.
Maine writes its protection into statute. Residential electric customers there are covered between November 15 and April 15, when a utility may not set a disconnection date without advance permission from the state commission’s consumer assistance and safety division. A utility that breaks the rule faces a civil penalty of up to $2,500, payable to the affected customer.
Heating oil, gasoline and piped gas moved on different clocks
Fuel oil number two cost $5.922 a gallon in September, against $3.592 a year earlier, a 64.9 percent increase. It was also up 15.1 percent in a single month, from $5.145 in August. The year-over-year and month-over-month figures cover different spans, and both are large here.
For a household buying oil, the gap is concrete. Every 100 gallons cost $592.20 at September’s average price against $359.20 a year earlier, or $233 more. The Midwest region shows the same pattern at $5.696 a gallon, up 70.9 percent over the year and 15.3 percent from August.
Gasoline, all types, averaged $4.631 a gallon, up 33.0 percent from $3.481 a year earlier and up 6.5 percent from $4.348 in August. The bureau’s September CPI summary, released October 14, shows all items up 3.7 percent over twelve months, not seasonally adjusted, and 0.6 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Utility piped gas was the calmest of the four. It averaged $1.700 a therm, up 5.4 percent from $1.613 a year earlier and down 0.8 percent from $1.714 in August. Midwest customers paid $1.247 a therm, up 1.5 percent for the year and down 1.6 percent for the month.
Which fuel heats the house decides the exposure
Side by side, the year-over-year moves show why the heating fuel matters: electricity up 4.3 percent, piped gas up 5.4 percent, gasoline up 33.0 percent and fuel oil up 64.9 percent. A household on electric heat faces the smallest annual increase of those, and one filling an oil tank the largest. None of these averages is a household’s own price, which depends on the local utility and supplier.
The next reading comes November 10, 2026, when the bureau releases October CPI data. It will show whether fuel oil holds near $5.92 a gallon as the cold months begin, and whether electricity stays at 19.6 cents once heating season is under way.
Will the winter bill outrun the budget?
Ohio’s crisis payment comes once per winter, and its 30-day disconnection delay can be used once a year for each utility, so a household that waits for the shut-off notice spends its one chance at the worst moment. Fuel oil is already up 64.9 percent in a year, and each program keeps its own window.
The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit puts heating, cooling and home-repair help in one place, with an application log and renewal calendar so each program’s dates get written down. It also lays out the 5 kinds of property-tax relief, so the same sitting covers the other large housing bill.
Get the heating-help list for older homeowners from the home-cost relief kit →
More Financial Reading
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- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 15 Ways Retirees Are Tapping a Record $14.9 Trillion in Home Equity
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
