Cost to Heat a Home in Alaska: Gas vs Oil vs Heat Pump

In Alaska the cheapest heat last winter was natural gas at $13.37 per MMBtu delivered; electric resistance cost $76.52 — EIA prices, October 2025 to March 2026.

Updated September 2026 · Source: EIA STEO September 2026, Natural Gas Monthly, SHOPP · EPM Table 5.6.A (July 2026 data) · next: EIA Winter Fuels Outlook Oct 6, weekly SHOPP prices from October

By SolarCostData Data Desk · Reviewed September 2026 · Corrections log

On this page: CalculatorTableHow we calculatedSources

Alaska heating cost per MMBtu, fuel by fuel

The season column is an illustrative 60 MMBtu of delivered heat; in Alaska that puts natural gas at $802 and electric resistance at $4,591 for the winter. The this-winter column applies EIA’s national STEO change per fuel to Alaska’s own price (electricity +3%) — direction, not a state forecast.

The prices behind the table

Alaska’s June gas figure ($17.35/Mcf) runs 1.3× its winter average ($13.18) because EIA’s residential price is average revenue per Mcf with the fixed charge folded in; the high-volume winter months are the closest published proxy for the marginal rate this page needs.

What Alaska’s utilities charge

The statewide 26.11¢ hides a 9.1¢ spread between Alaska’s largest utilities, worth $26.67 per MMBtu on resistance heat and $12.29 on a heat pump. The ZIP lookup finds yours.

How Alaska homes are heated

Natural gas heats 49.2% of Alaska’s 267,865 occupied homes against 46.8% nationally, with electricity at 13.7%, propane at 2.4% and heating oil at 28.2%. That lines up with the table above: natural gas was also Alaska’s cheapest heat last winter at $13.37 per MMBtu.

What the numbers say about Alaska

At last winter’s average prices, the cheapest way to heat a home in Alaska was natural gas at about $13 per million Btu delivered, and the most expensive was electric resistance at $77 — a 5.7× spread between the two columns. Gas beat a cold-climate heat pump at 17°F (COP 2.17) by $21.89/MMBtu, and at 47°F (COP 3.2, $23.91) the heat pump still trails. At Alaska’s winter rates the economic balance point lands above 47°F (COP 5.72 needed against 3.20 available), so the furnace is cheaper at every rated temperature. No EIA state or regional heating-oil series exists for Alaska; the oil row is the national STEO average ($3.94/gal last winter, $5.30 forecast) and is labelled as such. Propane, likewise, is the national STEO figure of $2.56/gal because SHOPP does not cover Alaska.

Heating degree-days: Alaska’s own figure and the EIA division forecast

NOAA publishes no state degree-day series for Alaska, so only the division figure is available. The month-by-month table below is a different, coarser series — EIA STEO Pacific census division degree-days, the only one with a forecast for the coming winter; it groups Alaska with its neighbours and is not a Alaska figure:

January in the EIA Pacific census division (the coarse series that groups Alaska with its neighbours) averaged about 49°F last winter (65°F minus degree-days per day) and is forecast at 48°F for January 2027, a season move of +419 degree-days. Degree-days set how much heat Alaska needs, the table above sets the price per unit, and the bill jump calculator multiplies the two.

Where the heat pump crosses over in Alaska

At last winter’s averages of 26.11¢/kWh and $1.27/therm, a heat pump beats a 95% gas furnace whenever its COP exceeds 5.72. Alaska’s economic balance point on the NEEP median curve is above 47°F (COP 5.72 needed against 3.20 available), so the furnace is cheaper at every rated temperature; the crossover tool runs seven named units at Alaska’s prices and the dual-fuel calculator turns the answer into a changeover setting.

From October 6 the EIA Winter Fuels Outlook adds household expenditure by region and the weekly SHOPP survey restarts, giving Alaska fresh regional propane readings on the weekly tracker .

Frequently asked questions

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.

Where to go next

• Winter heating cost hub: gas vs propane vs oil vs electric — The national table, the arithmetic behind every row here, and all {len(COLD)} state pages.
• Gas vs heat pump heating cost — The COP a heat pump needs to beat gas at $1.27/therm.
• Electric vs gas heat cost — Resistance heat versus gas across every state with a published gas price.
• Heating oil and propane prices by state (weekly tracker) — Every SHOPP weekly reading behind Alaska’s oil and propane figures, with season lows, highs and trend lines.
• Heat pump crossover temperature — Seven named NEEP units at 26.11¢ and $1.27/therm — Alaska needs COP 5.72 to beat gas.
• Dual-fuel switchover calculator — Turns Alaska’s balance point (above 47°F (COP 5.72 needed against 3.20 available)) into a thermostat changeover setting.
• Heat pump sizing estimator — Alaska sits in IECC zone 7; a January mean near 49°F is the design context for capacity.
• Why is my electric bill so high? — Splits a Alaska bill jump into weather (2,151 degree-days last winter), rate and usage.
• Solar panel cost in Alaska — The same 28.83¢/kWh July rate driving payback, utilities and rate history for Alaska.
• Cost to run a space heater in Alaska — 1,500 W at Alaska’s winter rate and degree-days — the per-hour and per-winter figure for one room.
• Cost to run a heat pump in Alaska — 3,500 W at Alaska’s winter rate and degree-days — the per-hour and per-winter figure for one room.
• Cost to run a ductless mini-split in Alaska — 2,000 W at Alaska’s winter rate and degree-days — the per-hour and per-winter figure for one room.
• Cost to heat a home in North Dakota — Cold-state neighbour on this list: cheapest heat there was natural gas at $10.11/MMBtu.
• Cost to heat a home in Tennessee — Cold-state neighbour on this list: cheapest heat there was natural gas at $14.32/MMBtu.