Natural gas... annual hike.

[Pete Zahria]

Well.. one thing for sure, as I mentioned during the summer,
when the cold weather gets here, the rate jumps up.
All sorts of reasons for it, I'm sure..
Naturally, the bill has so many charges that you can't make
heads or tails of it no matter what.
But clearly.. there is a healthy spike in the cost of the gas.

The price per therm here is $0.27
But.. November 1st, to April 30th it goes to $0.66
That is for the gas, not including the stuff you can't understand..
Which is actually more than the gas.
This isn't to point out anything about comparing pellets etc.
Just that Natural Gas isn't the same bargain in the winter!

Dan

 

[alternativeheat]

Well.. one thing for sure, as I mentioned during the summer,
when the cold weather gets here, the rate jumps up.
All sorts of reasons for it, I'm sure..
Naturally, the bill has so many charges that you can't make
heads or tails of it no matter what.
But clearly.. there is a healthy spike in the cost of the gas.

The price per therm here is $0.27
But.. November 1st, to April 30th it goes to $0.66
That is for the gas, not including the stuff you can't understand..
Which is actually more than the gas.
This isn't to point out anything about comparing pellets etc.
Just that Natural Gas isn't the same bargain in the winter!

Dan

HMMM,,,,,,,,,,,, Oh never mind, LOL !

 

[F4jock]

Just on TV here. UGI lowered natural gas prices for the second time this year. . . . .

 

[kappel15]

Natural gas has been very cheap here the last 3 winters. Under a buck a therm. Right now it is a buck a therm, which isn't too bad. But the corn stove is running.

 

[bogieb]

Naturally, the bill has so many charges that you can't make
heads or tails of it no matter what.

The price per therm here is $0.27
But.. November 1st, to April 30th it goes to $0.66
That is for the gas, not including the stuff you can't understand..
Which is actually more than the gas.
Dan

Sounds like the electric bill - the various charges are as much as the KW/hour charge, regardless how many kw's you use.

 

[Fairwind]

At the wellhead, natural gas is selling for record low prices...Many producers just flare it off ...Storing and transporting it to your home, that what costs the money...

 

[Pellet-King]

New Hampshire has no taxes, but they sure pork you on everything else

 

[Cory S]

New Hampshire has no taxes, but they sure pork you on everything else

EXACTLY.... Property taxes, vehicle registrations, municipal costs, etc.. They still get their cut....

 

[Pete Zahria]

At the wellhead, natural gas is selling for record low prices...Many producers just flare it off ...Storing and transporting it to your home, that what costs the money...

Understood.
But... the increase is on the "gas" itself...
That is my gripe.

Dan

 

[Fairwind]

With coal or pellets or fuel oil, you can build up an inventory when prices are cheap (summer) and store them at a small expense. But storing large quantities of N.G. is difficult and expensive. In the winter, when demand is high, your gas company must buy gas on the open market at spot-market price and take delivery of that gas within 30, 60 or 90 days. If, for any reason they CAN'T take delivery of the gas, nasty short-term storage charges are levied..Natural gas liquification and storage would help stabilize prices but the public perceives these installations as being extremely dangerous and the N.I.M.B.Y. attitude prevails....

 

[greg13]

EXACTLY.... Property taxes, vehicle registrations, municipal costs, etc.. They still get their cut....

Well, You could live in New York and pay BOTH the fees and taxes

 

[Corey]

With coal or pellets or fuel oil, you can build up an inventory when prices are cheap (summer) and store them at a small expense. But storing large quantities of N.G. is difficult and expensive. ...

Well, if you're convinced gas is moving one way or the other, you could get into the futures market. (they store it for you!)

 

[bags]

Similar to the jump at the pumps during holiday weekends and such.......... The energy king jackasses piss me off.

 

[Fairwind]

Capitalism, What a System !!

 

[peakbagger]

The big reason for the jump is related to pipeline capacity. The utilities need to supply "firm" gas. This means they have rented a portion of the pipelines capacity and are guaranteed gas. Businesses tend to buy non firm gas which is basically the gas that the utilities don't need at any given moment. Like the name, non firm (AKA interruptible) means they aren't guaranteed gas when its in demand during a cold snap. When the gas demand goes up due to cold weather, the non firm gas starts to disappear from the market and its price rapidly increases to much higher prices. On a particularly cold day when the pipelines are full out, gas may be selling in the 100s of dollar per MMbtu range compared to $2.20 a MMBtu . Homeowners want a flat rate they can depend on all winter so they pay more for the guaranteed price. Many plants will buy non firm gas and when the price spikes, they will shut down or switch to different fuel.

Build new pipelines into the region and the cost for power and gas will drop.

 

[Fairwind]

There are certain locations, geologic formations, where large amounts of N.G. CAN be stored. These huge underground voids, empty salt-domes and the like can be pumped full of gas at fairly high pressure during the summer months and then tapped quickly during winter cold snaps to provide a steady supply..Peakbagger is correct about the different pricing levels associated with N.G distribution....Moving and processing N.G. from the well-head to the consumers home is an involved process....

 

[peakbagger]

Unfortunately most of northern new england is solid granite, the closest formations good for storage are over in western NY. Of course that area also has shale but the state of NY banned extraction. The pipeline shortage is in the more densely populated southern new England area. The cheap gas on the east coast is the Marcellus shale in PA.

 

[Pete Zahria]

Build new pipelines into the region and the cost for power and gas will drop.

Too many NIMBY's........
same goes for electricity.