Why are natural gas bills so high?
Two factors are at play on your bill; the amount of energy used and its cost. The following example is based on natural gas but electricity would be similar.
This Year | Last Year | |
Usage in Therms | 113 | 72 |
This winter is 13% colder than Normal. | ||
Gas cost/Therm | $0.718 | $0.420 |
Average gas prices have more than doubled | ||
Billed | $81.13 | $30.24 |
Your bill will be the higher than it has been in the last 5 years |
Last year was warmer than a Normal* winter; in fact it was 72% of Normal in December 2012 and January 2013.
So if in a Normal year you use 100 Therms of natural gas, last winter you used 72. This was when the price of natural gas was about $0.420/Therm.
Now consider this December 2013 and January 2014 winter that is 13% colder than Normal.
So you will use 113 Therms. This is when the price of natural gas is about $0.718/Therm.
*a Normal winter is an average of 20 winters