Why Your Electric Bill Spikes in Winter, and How to Cut It
The average US home paid about $133 for electricity in October 2025 and about $175 in January 2026, by a calculation from EIA utility data, and the price per kilowatt-hour fell in most states over those months. The jump is usage: heat-pump backup heat, space heaters, the gas furnace's blower fan, electric water heaters and longer nights. Here are the state numbers, what the common plug-in culprits cost a month, and the cheap ways to stay warm: blankets and layers, heating only the rooms you use, thermostat setbacks, sealing drafts with a borrowed thermal camera, wood heat done safely, frozen-pipe prevention, and help paying the bill.