SALT LAKE CITY — With November poised to bring a dramatic shift to Utah's weather with cold and wet conditions, residents can bask in the fact that natural gas prices are at the lowest point in more than a decade and home heating costs will be cheaper this winter.
Utah, more than any other state, is on board to take advantage of the inexpensive source of home heating fuel because it ranks tops in the country for the percentage of homes heated by natural gas — at 84.4 percent.
The state is followed by Illinois at 78.5 percent, Michigan at 76.5 percent, New Jersey with 74.1 percent and Colorado at 70.3 percent, according to numbers released by the Energy Information Administration, a reasearch and statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy.
"Across the board, you are going to see price declines for every major source of home heating fuel," said Brydon Ross, vice president of state affairs for the Consumer Energy Alliance. "This should be really good news for consumers, and the (Energy Information Administration) is pretty conservative in their estimates."
The administration recently released its Short-Term Energy Outlook, which predicts average U.S. household expenditures on home heating costs over the course of winter, from Oct. 1 through March 31.
Its analysis shows that expenditures for the U.S. households on natural gas, heating oil and propane will be 10 percent, 25 percent and 18 percent lower, respectively, due to lower fuel prices and lower heating demand.
Even in the West, where the forecast calls for it to be 10 percent colder, prices are expected to be 4 percent lower, the analysis states.
Across the West, the average household will spend $421 October through March to heat their home, while the national average is $578. Ross said Utah prices could actually be lower than the regional average given rate reductions that may have played out over the past several years.
"We have a lot of gas in storage and a lot in production," he said, pointing to Energy Information Administration numbers that show there is a more than 100 billion cubic feet of extra natural gas in storage than there was at this time last year.
Darren Shepherd, Questar spokesman, said everyone is enjoying the high supply and low cost of natural gas.
"Wells are still producing, and supplies are looking for a place to go," Shepherd said. "Natural gas is being used more in electrical generation, manufacturing and in the automotive industry, which is good because it is all produced here in this country."
The utility requested a rate decrease from the Public Service Commission of $12.4 million in September, and it went into effect Oct. 1.
With natural gas prices lower, Shepherd said consumers tend to put off making energy-efficiency improvements in their homes because their wallets aren't taking a hit.
"This is actually the best time to do it, make those improvements, so you are prepared when the prices change," he said.
Questar has a rebate program for people who choose to upgrade furnaces or water heaters. For $25, Questar will visit your home and prepare an energy plan that shows where improvements can be made to save on energy costs. That $25 is refunded if improvements are made. More information is available at thermwise.com.
The low prices also afford the utility company some time to turn its attention to making system improvements to its delivery of natural gas.
With that mind, the utility is asking for a 50-cent increase per household in rates so it can take care of those improvements to its delivery system.
"The point is that the decreases in the costs of natural gas are much greater than this increase," he said. "So the customer is still seeing a decrease in their monthly costs."
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