Natural gas is going to cost 5 times as much in February because of this Texas crap

[questionseverything]

That is what the local news here in Illinois just said

To say this is devastating is an understatement

There is no way average people will be able to absorb it

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. NG lines are frozen...that's why Texans are freezing right now. nt

[questionseverything]

10. They didn't insulate their lines, why should that cost everyone?

This is their infrastructure problem

[LastDemocratInSC]

2. The omnipotent Invisible Hand will assure that all participants

in the economy will be treated fairly except for the suckers who end up losing by a wide margin.

[roamer65]

3. Our major utilities have large underground nat gas storage fields in Michigan.

In fact, we have the most underground storage in the nation. It’s because Michigan’s bedrock is mainly limestone and shale.

They pump them full when prices are lower, and use it in winter to stabilize prices.

[questionseverything]

11. Illinois has it's own wells

I don’t know how this would be handled

[dem4decades]

4. 5 times would make my heating bill petty steep. Might be time to shut it down a bit.

[sarcasmo]

7. Agreed, that would make my energy bill 1500 dollars for March.

[ecstatic]

5. Wow. Just locked in my rate a couple weeks ago

Thank goodness!

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Perhaps we shouldn't be shipping it off to the Asian Pacific Rim at this moment in time.

.

I'm sure with international competition those buyers would turn to Russia or some other country if they tried raising the rates even by 200%.

So it seems like it's more of that "We're Americans, but Fuck Americans" viewpoint from the energy companies.

"Oh, where's our government tax cuts and incentives to frack US soil for more LNG for China and other countries?"

.

[questionseverything]

8. This wild a swing in prices shouldn't be legal

N/t

[TheBlackAdder]

9. Once NG users get boned, there will be a jump in solar & geothermal installations.

.

NG delivery is as much as NG itself. Propane is another costly alternative and fuel oil is dirty and unpredictable.

Cut off using NG and homeowners will see further cost savings.


===


Of course, RED states will tax the shit out of people with residential solar installations.

.

[Captain Zero]

12. Texas going its own way on energy. Other States

working together on a common grid.
Only Texas has a problem.

Hmmmm. Anybody know a genius that could figure this one out ?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

13. Your headline is misleading as seen in panicked responses in several replies.

First, do you have a source for this claim you can add to the OP?

Second, any jump in prices are probably temporary wholesale spot prices that we won't see. These utilities are regulated and no way in hell they can increase retail charges by 5X immediately.

Most likely (and only after regulatory approval), we'll see a small increase over the next year or so to absorb the higher wholesale cost caused by the extreme cold weather. Most utilities like our LG&E have huge buffer reservoirs which also act as a price buffer.

You may want to moderate your headline to keep folks from panicking.

KY

[questionseverything]

15. It was the local news/

Heck I hope you are right but i am just repeating what the utility guy said

[Frasier Balzov]

14. NG is a byproduct of oil extraction.

Covid caused demand for oil to drop last year, and a lot of production capacity was shuttered.

The follow-on effect is that supply of NG has dropped going into the winter months.

Harsh winter coupled with reduced supply? Yes, there's going to be some upward price pressure.

But FIVE fold? The NG futures sure aren't indicating anything so extreme going on in the market right now.

[Klaralven]

16. Tell Putin to go ahead with Nord Stream 2. We no longer have gas to sell to Europe.