Energy inflation: gasoline, electricity and gas

What the energy index contains

The energy index of the CPI cuts across two major groups. Energy commodities, mostly gasoline and fuel oil, sit in transportation and in housing. Energy services, electricity and utility (piped) gas, sit in housing. The index follows the prices households pay, taxes on those purchases included. Over the 12 months to September 2026, energy commodities rose 35.3 %, with fuel oil up 74.2 %, while energy services rose 4.6 %.

The 2026 jump, month by month

The BLS release for September 2026 traces the year. Seasonally adjusted, the energy index rose 10.9 % in March 2026 alone, with gasoline up 21.2 %, fell 5.7 % in June, then rose again in August and September. A monthly swing of this size is common for energy and rare for anything else, which is why one month of the headline rate can mislead. Since the 2020 annual average, the national energy index has risen 73.4 %.

Energy by region and metro

Regional energy indexes moved further apart than most groups: Northeast +23.1 %, Midwest +22.0 %, South +20.1 %, West +17.6 % over the latest 12 months. Each local index follows the prices paid in that area and the mix of fuels its households buy, so two metros facing the same national gasoline shock can show quite different energy rates.

Weight and contribution

Energy weighs 6.4 % of the CPI-U, a small share, but it can rise or fall by a fifth in a year. Multiplying the weight by the change gives a first approximation of what energy added to the headline rate: about 1.3 point of the 3.7 % this year. The CPI-W gives energy more weight, 8.1 %, because fuel takes a larger share of the spending of wage-earner households. Over the same 12 months the CPI-W rose 3.9 % against 3.7 % for the CPI-U, and the Social Security COLA, computed from the CPI-W, came out at 3.6 % for 2027.

Energy in a household budget

Because energy moves so much, the index you pick matters for a budget line. $250 a month of energy at September 2025 prices costs $301 a month at September 2026 prices on the national energy index, an extra $613 over a year. A household that mostly heats with electricity and drives little faced a much smaller rise than one with a long commute, because electricity rose 4.4 % and gasoline 34.2 %. The calculator applies the whole energy index of your area; for your own bills, the change on your statements is the better guide.

The energy index is published for every area on this site, monthly for the nation, the regions, the size classes and the three monthly metros, and on the bimonthly rhythm for the other metros. Gasoline alone and electricity alone are published as separate indexes nationally and for many areas on bls.gov; this site keeps the energy aggregate for every area.

Reading a single month

A jump of 5 or 10 % in one month is not unusual for energy, and it often reverses. The 12-month rate smooths that, but it also keeps a shock in the figure for a full year: the March 2026 rise will stay in every 12-month energy rate until March 2027. When energy prices stop rising, the 12-month rate falls back quickly; when they fall, it can turn negative, as it did in 2009. For a view of the trend, compare the energy rate with core inflation over the same months, and look at several releases together.

A long record of swings

Since 1999 the national energy index had its largest annual rise in 2022, 25.2 %, and its largest fall in 2009, -18.4 %. No other group of the CPI moves like that. For a contract, that is a reason not to index on energy alone; for a household budget, it is a reason to look at energy separately, with the calculator above, rather than through the headline rate.

The core inflation page shows the index without food and energy; the spending group page puts energy beside the other groups; the current inflation rate gives the latest headline.