It Will Cost Less To Turn Up The Heat This Winter If You Use Natural Gas

NPR

Published December 3, 2015 at 12:33 PM CST

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A worker walks toward a part of a Consol Energy Horizontal Gas Drilling Rig exploring the Marcellus Shale outside the town of Waynesburg, PA on April 13, 2012. (Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images)

Natural gas is cheap this year, thanks to a warm autumn and new sources of gas. During Thanksgiving week, big swaths of the country enjoyed warm, sunny days and used very little natural gas.

Meanwhile, drillers in Pennsylvania are finding huge reserves of gas, which is driving the price down. Natural gas is trading at about $2.23 per million British thermal units (MBTU). Only a few years ago, it was trading at more than $13.

NPR’s senior business editor Marilyn Geewax joins Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson to discuss how low natural gas prices will save people money on their heating bills – a nice compliment to low gasoline prices.

Guest

Marilyn Geewax, senior business editor at NPR. She tweets @geewaxnpr.