Notice2026-05899
Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 26, 2026
Effective
April 27, 2026
Issuing agencies
Energy Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) forecasts 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 58 (Thursday, March 26, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 58 (Thursday, March 26, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14689-14690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05899]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products: Representative
Average Unit Costs of Energy
AGENCY: Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, Department
of Energy.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) forecasts 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.
DATES: The representative average unit costs of energy contained in
this notice will become effective April 27, 2026 and will remain in
effect until further notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mr. Troy Watson, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Critical
Minerals and Energy Innovation, EE-5B, 1000 Independence Avenue SW,
Washington, DC 20585-0121, Telephone: (202) 449-9387, Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d392a3a3bfbab2bdb0b680a7b2bdb7b2a1b7a082a6b6a0a7babcbda093b6b6fdb7bcb6fdb4bca5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9bdaebebf7f2faf5f8fec8effaf5fffae9ffe8caeefee8eff2f4f5e8dbfefeb5fff4feb5fcf4ed">[email protected]</span></a>.
Mr. Peter Cochran, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of General
Counsel, GC-33, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585-0103,
Telephone: (202) 586-4798, Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#99e9fcedfcebb7faf6faf1ebf8f7d9f1e8b7fdf6fcb7fef6ef"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8afaeffeeff8a4e9e5e9e2f8ebe4cae2fba4eee5efa4ede5fc">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE is required to prescribe test procedures
for measuring the estimated annual operating costs or other measures of
energy consumption for certain consumer products, as specified in
Section 323 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (the Act) (42
U.S.C. 6293(b)(3)). These test procedures are found in Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 430, subpart B.
The estimated annual operating costs of a covered product must be
calculated from measurements of energy use in a representative average
use cycle or period of use and from representative average unit costs
of the energy needed to operate the product during the cycle (Section
323(b)(3) of the Act). (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(3) and (b)(4)) DOE must
provide information to manufacturers regarding the representative
average unit costs of energy. (42 U.S.C. 6293(b)(4)) This cost
information should be used by manufacturers to meet their obligations
under Section 323(c) of the Act. These costs are also used to comply
with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirements for labeling.
Manufacturers are required to use the revised DOE representative
average unit costs when the FTC publishes new ranges of comparability
for specific covered products (16 CFR part 305). Interested parties can
also find information covering the FTC labeling requirements at <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/appliances">https://www.ftc.gov/appliances</a>.
DOE last published representative average unit costs of residential
energy in a Federal Register notice entitled, ``Energy Conservation
Program for Consumer Products: Representative Average Unit Costs of
Energy'', dated October 17, 2024, 89 FR 83672. DOE's Energy Information
Administration (EIA) developed the 2025 representative average unit
after-tax residential costs found in this notice. EIA based these costs
for electricity, natural gas, and No. 2 heating oil on its September
2025, EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook (EIA releases the Outlook monthly).
The representative average unit after-tax costs for propane and
kerosene are based on the projected 2025 U.S. residential sector prices
found in EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2025 (AEO2025) (April 15, 2025).
The Short-Term Energy Outlook and the Annual Energy Outlook are
available on the EIA website at <a href="https://www.eia.gov">https://www.eia.gov</a>. For more
information on the data sources used in this notice, contact the
National Energy Information Center, Forrestal Building, EI-30, 1000
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, Telephone: (202) 586-
8800, Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e0898e868f839492a0858981ce848f85ce878f96"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bbd2d5ddd4d8cfc9fbded2da95dfd4de95dcd4cd">[email protected]</span></a>.
The 2025 representative average unit costs under section 323(b)(4)
of the Act are set forth in Table 1, and will become effective April
27, 2026. They will remain in effect until further notice.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on March 17,
2026, by Audrey Robertson, Assistant Secretary (EERE) for Critical
Minerals and Energy Innovation, pursuant to delegated authority from
the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original signature and
date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in
compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon
publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on March 24, 2026.
Jennifer Hartzell,
Alternate Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
Table 1--Representative Average Unit Costs of Energy for Five Residential Energy Sources
[2025]
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$ Per million As required by test
Type of energy Btu \1\ In commonly used terms procedure
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Electricity............................. 50.47 17.22 [cent]/kWh \2\ \3\.. $0.1722/kWh.
Natural Gas............................. 14.37 $1.43/therm \4\ or $14.9/ $0.00001437/Btu.
MCF \5\ \6\.
No. 2 Heating Oil....................... 25.91 $3.56/gallon \7\.......... $0.00002591/Btu.
Propane................................. 25.68 $2.35/gallon \8\.......... $0.00002568/Btu.
Kerosene................................ 25.11 $3.39/gallon \9\.......... $0.00002511/Btu.
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Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook (September 9, 2025) and Annual Energy
Outlook (April 15, 2025).
Notes: Prices include taxes.
\1\ Btu stands for British thermal units.
\2\ kWh stands for kilowatt hour.
\3\ 1 kWh = 3,412 Btu.
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\4\ 1 therm = 100,000 Btu.
\5\ MCF stands for 1,000 cubic feet.
\6\ For the purposes of this table, one cubic foot of natural gas has an energy equivalence of 1,037 Btu.
\7\ For the purposes of this table, one gallon of No. 2 heating oil has an energy equivalence of 137,381 Btu.
\8\ For the purposes of this table, one gallon of liquid propane has an energy equivalence of 91,333 Btu.
\9\ For the purposes of this table, one gallon of kerosene has an energy equivalence of 135,000 Btu.
[FR Doc. 2026-05899 Filed 3-25-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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