BUFFALO, N.Y. — Some good news for those that heat their homes with natural gas.
National Fuel is predicting a 30% decrease in home heating bills for the 2023-24 winter season.
The company recently released their winter heating forecast, and here is what customers should expect in terms of cost.
National Fuel projected that cased on a seasonal estimate that they anticipate customers will see a 30% decrease in the months of November through March from last winter's costs.
The average residential customer based on an estimate will pay $572 or $114 a month to heat their home this upcoming winter. In comparison, last winter customers paid on average $816 or $163 a month.
The decrease is driven by the thought that the average customer will use more gas this upcoming winter if temperatures resemble the 15-year historic average.
The price of natural gas is based on what has been purchased and placed into storage during the summer months.
Despite the crazy WNY winter last year with two major blizzards in November and December, temperatures were consistently above average with the season finishing at 11.4% warmer than normal.
“Two major variables impact home heating bills and the primary reasons they increase: the cost of natural gas and the amount of natural gas used by the customer” said Karen L. Merkel, spokesperson for National Fuel. “As National Fuel doesn’t set the cost of the gas we purchase, the amount we pay is what the customer pays. Natural gas supply costs are passed along to customers without mark-up or profit to National Fuel. Approximately 60% of each customer bill is the natural gas supply cost and applicable taxes, with the remaining 40% of the bill being the delivery charge. And when compared to electricity, natural gas is currently less than one third the cost.”
National Fuel also wanted to mention that there are numerous ways for people to have payment-assistance which can be found with more details on their website.
Merkel explained how the costs are calculated.
"We look at, you know, history of customer usage, and then we look at the typical Western New York winter and what the, we call them the degree days might be, and that's really how the formula is built. We also look at things like the Farmer's Almanac and what's being predicted, but we really look at past usage, normal Buffalo Western New York winter, and we're able to build a formula, and of course, most important, the cost of the gas that we placed into storage," Merkel said.
Several factors are impacting projected prices.
"We buy more than 50-percent of the gas that's used in the winter and we put it into storage when costs are down. The cost of natural gas this summer was less than half of what we paid last summer and that was due to economic shocks, including the war in Ukraine and really getting back to normal, or some semblance of normal, from COVID. So COVID really impacted supply and demand," Merkel said.
To learn more visit www.nationalfuel.com