“The price of natural gas has really just plummeted the past few years,” said Vectren spokeswoman Chase Kelley. “We have a glut of supply, a supply we have not seen since 1971.”
West Central Ohio Vectren customers who heated homes with natural gas this past winter paid significantly less than those who used propane or electricity over the winter heating season of November through March, Kelley said.
The average Vectren customer based on normal winter weather, the utility said, paid a monthly bill of about $65 to $75 during the 2011-2012 heating season for a five-month total of $325 to $365 depending on furnace efficiency and home size.
Kelley said that natural gas heating bills have not been this low since the heating season of 2001-02.
Katie Teller, research analyist with the U.S. Energy Information Administration, predicts natural gas prices in 2013 could hit $3.17 per standard unit. Monday, the price was $2.21. Next year, demand from electric utilities should help keep prices up, she added.
Meanwhile, the savings are serious. Lower market prices have helped customer bills drop 40 percent over the past four years, Colleen Ryan, president of Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, said.
Vectren delivers natural gas to approximately 315,000 customers in all or portions of Auglaize, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Darke, Fayette, Greene, Highland, Logan, Madison, Miami, Montgomery, Pickaway, Preble, Shelby and Warren counties.
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