Chamber member Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) announced today that, assuming normal winter temperatures, customers should experience a decrease of more than 35 percent in their overall home heating bills this upcoming heating season.
Over the course of the winter heating season – Nov. 1 to March 31 – NIPSCO’s average residential customer using 698 therms could expect to pay approximately $509. This compares to $833 for a customer using the same amount of gas during the last winter heating season.
The cost of natural gas represents the largest portion of customer bills, typically making up three-fourths of an overall bill. NIPSCO has no mark-up and makes no profit on the cost of natural gas billed to its customers. Before being billed to customers, natural gas commodity costs are filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for review on a monthly basis.
Commodity prices in the market are mainly determined by such factors as supply and demand, weather and storage levels, but lower gas costs this year can also be attributed to the cooler-than-normal temperatures we experienced during the summer, the decline in industrial demand for energy as a result of the recession, gas production levels across the country and record-high inventories of natural gas.
In a commitment to secure the most reliable supply of natural gas at the lowest cost for customers, NIPSCO’s purchasing strategy consists of buying gas in the market from a variety of sources at different times throughout the year, combined with contracting future purchases and utilizing gas storage to offset market price volatility.
The winter bill figures provided by NIPSCO are only projections. If temperatures are colder-than-normal this winter, the cost to heat a home will likely be higher as customers will be using more gas and wholesale natural gas prices could rise in response to the increased demand.
NIPSCO offers a number of solutions to help customers use energy wisely, make smart energy decisions and manage their monthly bill. For more information visit www.nipsco.com or call 1-800-4-NIPSCO.
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