Southeast Michigan consumers may see higher heat bills: Natural gas rates up 20%, could get worse this winter
TMCnet - The World's Largest Communications and Technology Community
TMC Launches New Sites ::  NGC  |  4GWE  |  Green Tech  |  Satellite  |  IT |  ITEXPO  |  Healthcare  |  Smart Grid  |  M2M  |  Smart Products  |  AstriCon News  |  SATCON News
TMCnet CHANNELS
#1 VoIP Enabler: Risk-free, Quick & Easy Deployment
Advanced Carrier Services
Advanced IP Carrier
Answering Service
Appliance Deployment
ATCA
Auto Dialer
BPA (3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring)
Broadcast Modulator
Business Phone Systems
Business Process Automation
Business VoIP
Call Center
Call Center Certification
Call Center Digital Signage
Call Center Furniture
Call Center Hiring
Call Center Management
Call Center On Demand
Call Center Outsourcing
Call Center Scheduling
Call Center Software
Call Center Solutions
Call Center Training
Call Center Workforce Management
Call Monitoring
Call Recording
Communications Enabled Business Processes
Conference Call
Conferencing
Contact Center Headsets
Contact Center Software
CRM Cloud Computing
CRM Software
CRM Solutions
DID/DDI
Digital Signage
e911
E911 Hosted Solutions
Email Archiving
Email Server
Enterprise Fax over IP
Enterprise VoIP
Ethernet Extender
Fax
Fax Over IP
FoIP
HD Conference
Hosted Contact Center
Hosted PBX
Integrated Communications
IP Fax
IP Multimedia
IP Phone Maker
IP Phone System
IP Phones
IP Transit
IVR
Lead Management Software
Master Agent
Mobile Management
Mobile Unified Communications
Mobile Video
NEBS
Network Installation
Open Source CRM
PBX PCI Adapter
Phone Systems
Portable Satellite Antenna
Predictive Dialer
Sales Software
SATCON
SIP
Speech Recognition and Text to Speech
Telecom Cost Management
Telecom Expense Management
Telecom Lifecycle Management
Telemarketing Software
Telepresence
Testing IP Services
Virtual Call Center
Virtual Office
Virtual PBX
Virtual Receptionist
Voice Broadcast
Voice Management
Voice Over IP
Voice Peering
Voicemail Replacement
VoIP Call Recording
VoIP Contact Center
VoIP Developer
VoIP Gateways
VoIP Monitoring
VoIPSwitch
Web Conferencing
Web Meeting
Wholesale VoIP
Wireless Expense Management
Wireless Management
Workforce Management
Workforce Optimization
Share
TMCnews
[July 19, 2008]

Southeast Michigan consumers may see higher heat bills: Natural gas rates up 20%, could get worse this winter

(Blade, The (Toledo, OH) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 19--Customers of Michigan Gas Utilities Corp. have been warned by the utility to prepare for increased heating costs this winter unless natural gas prices decline soon.

Higher costs could affect more than 50,000 customers in southeast Michigan, including 45,000 in Monroe County, utility officials said.

Natural gas rates this summer are about 20 percent higher than a year ago, and the winter season could be worse, company spokesman P.J. Livernois said.

"Summer natural gas market prices are higher now than ever before. If that trend continues, we'll see heating costs this winter hundreds of dollars higher than last year," he said.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas prices closed at $10.69 per 970 cubic feet, up about 60 percent from this same time last year.

According to the utility, high prices are because of speculation in the marketplace, increased demand for natural gas, and forecasts for a busy hurricane season this year.

"Natural gas is ... tracking the price of oil," Mr. Livernois said.

A major factor in higher prices is that several gas utilities expended their gas reserves during the exceptionally cold Michigan winter last year, Mr. Livernois said. The utilities are now buying high-priced gas to restock their reserves and that price could be passed on to consumers, he added.



Unlike Ohio, Michigan consumers can't buy gas from suppliers other than their incumbent gas utility.

Although it is July, Michigan Gas Utilities is advising customers to apply for energy assistance now and begin a budget payment plan in anticipation of higher rates.



Contact Ted Fackler at:

tfackler@theblade.com

or 419-724-6199.

To see more of The Blade, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.toledoblade.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
Discussions:
Be the first to post a comment on this page!
 
By  
TMCnet
+ Add to the Discussion
Bookmark mobile.TMCnet.com on your mobile phone now to stay on top of the latest tech news.
TMCnet Videos
Featured White Papers
Featured White Paper RSS feed
10 reasons to switch to an IP PBX
Application Whitelisting: A new security paradigm
SCADA Systems Protection
view all white papers…
Top Stories
Today's TMCnet Top Stories and News Articles
InCode Telecom's Predictions for 2010
Fax Feature: RingCentral Helps Growing Limousine Company Expand Nation…
Wild for Animal Prints? Try This Flip
Internet Use in the Classroom is Low: Report
UC's Logicalis Moves Dallas Office to Plano
more of today's top stories...
Related VoIP News
Latest IP Communitions and VoIP News
In-Stat: Unified Communications Migrating to the Cloud
Frost & Sullivan Study: Virtualization Market in India to Grow Significantly
Windstream Announces Acquisition of Iowa Telecommunications Services
Teledata ICT of Ghana Using VocalTec's Essentra BAX VoIP Application Server
Sendmail, Osterman Detect E-Mail Cloud Trends

Today @ TMC
Upcoming Events
ITEXPO East 2010
 January 20-22, 2010
Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami, FL
4G Wireless Evolution Conference
 January 20-22, 2010
Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami, FL
view more…
Subscribe FREE to all of TMC's monthly magazines. Click here now.