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Home heating sticker shock: The cost of natural gas is up 180%
by 8DonCo Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:52 pm
Americans should brace for sticker shock on home heating costs as temperatures drop this fall and winter.
Prices for natural gas, the most common way to heat homes and a leading fuel source for generating electricity, have surged more than 180% over the past 12 months to $5.90 per million British thermal units. Natural gas hasn't been this expensive since February 2014.
The risk is that an early winter or extremely cold fall temperatures will force households to crank up the heat. That would further shrink the nation's below-average stockpiles of natural gas and could lift prices even higher.
"If we get an early frost, it could get ugly. It could get ugly fast," said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities.
The natural gas spike is exacerbating the United States' first brush with inflation in more than a dozen years. Families are already dealing with surging prices on everything from used cars and gasoline to bacon.
[size=18]The inflation surge is forcing the Federal Reserve to consider curtailing its ongoing support of the economy and leading some moderate lawmakers to question the need for the White House's ambitious spending plans. Meanwhile the energy crunch is making global investors nervous about economic growth and high prices.
"This would be bad enough even in normal times. But now there is this general fear about inflation," said Robert McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group.
About half of US households use natural gas for home and water heating, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The American Gas Association, which represents natural gas utilities like Con Edison, noted that "natural gas utility customers are not paying the day-to-day prices for natural gas that we see in the headlines," spokesperson Jake Rubin said in a statement.
That's because, AGA stressed, its members buy gas through long-term contracts that lock in prices and shield customers from some of the volatility. Rubin added that utilities augment winter supplies with storage of gas purchased months earlier.[/size]
Prices for natural gas, the most common way to heat homes and a leading fuel source for generating electricity, have surged more than 180% over the past 12 months to $5.90 per million British thermal units. Natural gas hasn't been this expensive since February 2014.
The risk is that an early winter or extremely cold fall temperatures will force households to crank up the heat. That would further shrink the nation's below-average stockpiles of natural gas and could lift prices even higher.
"If we get an early frost, it could get ugly. It could get ugly fast," said Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho Securities.
The natural gas spike is exacerbating the United States' first brush with inflation in more than a dozen years. Families are already dealing with surging prices on everything from used cars and gasoline to bacon.
[size=18]The inflation surge is forcing the Federal Reserve to consider curtailing its ongoing support of the economy and leading some moderate lawmakers to question the need for the White House's ambitious spending plans. Meanwhile the energy crunch is making global investors nervous about economic growth and high prices.
"This would be bad enough even in normal times. But now there is this general fear about inflation," said Robert McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group.
About half of US households use natural gas for home and water heating, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The American Gas Association, which represents natural gas utilities like Con Edison, noted that "natural gas utility customers are not paying the day-to-day prices for natural gas that we see in the headlines," spokesperson Jake Rubin said in a statement.
That's because, AGA stressed, its members buy gas through long-term contracts that lock in prices and shield customers from some of the volatility. Rubin added that utilities augment winter supplies with storage of gas purchased months earlier.[/size]
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8DonCo
Re: Home heating sticker shock: The cost of natural gas is up 180%
by ga10 Tue Sep 28, 2021 8:09 pm
May quá nhà tui xài toàn electric!
ga10
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