A new threat to affordability – just in time for winter: Natural gas prices have raced back up just as extreme cold forces Americans to crank up the heat

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/business/winter-heat-energy-prices?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit

by cnn

9 comments

  1. A new problem is threatening to worsen the affordability squeeze this winter: Natural gas prices have raced back up just as extreme cold forces Americans to crank up the heat.

    President Donald Trump has said he’s focused on lowering energy prices. And the most visible energy price for most Americans, gasoline at the pump, has been a clear bright spot on the cost-of-living front.

    But the progress on gas prices could be offset by the 39% spike in natural gas futures since the end of September. [Natural gas recently climbed](https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/business/winter-heat-energy-prices?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit) to the highest level since December 2022 before retreating sharply this week.

    It’s a double whammy for consumers.

    First, natural gas is the most common way to heat homes in America. The higher natural gas prices go, the more expensive it will be for many families to stay warm this winter.

    Secondly, natural gas is by far the No. 1 fuel source powering the nation’s electric grid. Higher natural gas prices could exacerbate the sticker shock consumers are already experiencing when they open their electric bills.

    “All that money the consumer is saving on gasoline may be eaten up by the soaring price of natural gas,” said Andy Lipow, president of consulting firm Lipow Oil Associates.

  3. Exporting more of the domestically produced natural gas + using more of it for large-scale power generation makes the cost go up. Who would’ve thought?

  6. Sharing some notes/FAQs which might contextualize this article, which lacks some important details about electricity markets and cost of service regulation.

    – Are natural gas power plants often setting locational marginal prices? Yes.
    – Always? No.
    – Are LMPs passed onto consumers via rates? Yes, usually (many utilities have access to fuel adjustments)
    – Do utilities earn any profit off of LMPs? Generally no, not at all.
    – Are incrementally higher LMPs the cause of higher electric bills? Yes, generally.
    – Are incrementally higher LMPs a major driver of higher electric bills? Generally no. Purchased power is a high OPEX line item, but utility CAPEX is far more impactful to electric bills. This includes investments in upgrading the system, replaced old assets, improving system resilience due to extreme weather, modernizing the system to handle more renewables and electrification, etc

    Hope this helps

  8. Trump’s attacks on Biden’s EPA initiatives to increase heat pump conversions and solar & wind energy production are hurting American citizens? Don’t say we weren’t warned.

  9. Yesterday Washington Gas finished their work on removing their connection to my property. I went 100% electric in September. I got a $5,000 instant rebate from Pepco this year for replacing my gas furnace with a heat pump.

Comments are closed.