6. The other fuel factors
Although the association cites declining gasoline prices as a sales benefit for restaurants, the fuel situation isn’t having as much of a positive impact on the cost side. Diesel fuel prices, which factor into food costs, should remain about where they were in 2015, the NRA says, and electricity prices should rise 1.7 percent, to a mean of 10.8 cents per kilowatt hour. Natural gas prices, however, should ebb by 1.1 percent. The NRA figures that last year’s decline in gasoline prices left customers with $60 more to spend every month, which 65 percent of adults intend to spend on dining out more often.