After years of increases, natural gas prices have been falling primarily due to the increase in supplies as a result of breakthroughs in shale drilling technology. The NYMEX settlement price at the end of September was $3.759 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), down from $3.857 at the end of August. For Domionion East Ohio (DEO) commercial and residential customers under Choice, the price to beat is NYMEX plus $1, or $4.759 in October. If you are willing to take a little risk, we are recommending that these customers stay with the utility’s default variable rate plan for now because this is likely to save you money this winter over the fixed price plans that are currently available. The lowest fixed price offer for DEO customers that we saw on the PUCO’s Apples to Apples Chart was Constellation NewEnergy’s $5.99 per Mcf for 12 months. If you are risk-averse, you might check and see if your community has a lower fixed rate aggregation plan. For more details, see this John Funk article from Tuesday’s Plain Dealer: Natural gas prices falling as supplies near a record
