Natural Gas Rates to Fall Again: Warm Weather, Below-Normal Demand Push Wholesale Prices Lower
Posted on: Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 09:00 CST
By Andrew Shain, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
Jan. 18--Charlotte-area natural gas rates will fall for the second time in as many months thanks to warm winter weather.
The rate changes proposed Tuesday by the region's two biggest natural gas providers would save customers an average of $30 a month. February rates would be down 25 percent from all-time highs in November and December.
Wholesale prices nationally have dipped as above-normal temperatures led to below-normal demand.
"The month of January has looked liked the month of May," said Aubrey Hilliard, president of Charlotte trading firm Texican Horizon Energy.
Gas prices soared last year after a pair of Gulf hurricanes cut production and left analysts wondering if there would be enough gas to go around.
Piedmont Natural Gas and PSNC Energy raised rates three times late last year.
They cut them in January, and now have asked state regulators to let them lower rates again because of falling wholesale prices -- which account for two-thirds of customers' monthly bills. State approval is expected by month's end.
Compared to this month, Piedmont Natural Gas wants to cut rates by 16 percent on Feb. 1, while PSNC Energy wants to trim them 13 percent.
Gwendolyn Leak of Charlotte said she's still waiting to see the January rate decrease after her natural gas bill jumped to $373 from $86 in one month: "Yeah, that's what they say. Let's see."
Piedmont's proposed rate starting Feb. 1 would still be one-third higher than a year earlier, while PSNC Energy's proposed rate is 14 percent higher.
Staff writer Stan Choe contributed
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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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