Start stocking up on wool blankets

Source: Chicago Sun-Times Publication date: 2000-10-05 Arrival time: 2000-10-06

The natural gas industry says that despite jaw-dropping increases scheduled for this winter, consumers will be paying about the same as they did in the mid-1980s-when prices are adjusted for inflation. Trouble is, nobody looks into his wallet and sees an inflation- adjusted dollar. It's just a dollar-and it'll take many more of them to heat your home or business this winter. In the city, customers could pay 64 percent more for gas this winter; in the suburbs, gas bills could rise 90 percent. Illinois homeowners wondering how they'll spend their cut of state tobacco money may have their answer. The problem is not a shortage per se; the problem is that the energy is still in the ground. Low prices two or three years ago idled drilling rigs, leaving us with the current natural gas drought. This is coupled with an increase in demand, due to the growing economy and wider use of this clean-burning resource.

Last month, representatives from 33 states gathered in Columbus, Ohio, for a Governors' Natural Gas Summit. It was convened by Bob Taft, governor of the gas-consuming state of Ohio, and Alaska's Gov. Tony Knowles, representing a major supplier. Both acknowledged that this winter could be a tough one for many people. Taft's warning that state and other governments had best prepare for an increase in assistance for the poor is worth heeding. The impact on the economy also is a wild card in play.

But both Taft, a Republican, and Knowles, a Democrat, are concerned that these high prices might prompt government, unwisely, to try to impose price controls. Such interference would dampen efforts by natural gas companies to explore new regions for gas supply. James J. Hoecker, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said that if regulators just leave the market alone, supply will catch up with demand in a few years, which will stabilize prices. Considerable patience will be required to ride this one out.

Unlike the energy crisis of the 1970s, when crude oil supply was controlled by foreign countries, most of the natural gas that Americans use is produced in the United States. But consumers might adopt some of the coping mechanisms from that era: Boosting your attic insulation, dialing down thermostats, changing weather stripping and replacing drafty windows are a few ways to moderately trim heating costs. Even that old Jimmy Carter-era sweater still might work wonders.

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=14556083&ID=cnniw&scategory=Energy%3ANatural+Gas

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 06, 2000

Answers

Natural gas has been the major menace to our energy plight all along. This dramataizes it.

-- Wayward (wayward@webtv.net.), October 06, 2000.

The natural gas crisis will be with us for a least two years. It takes that long to get new wells up ad cranking.

-- Chance (fruitloops@hotmail.com), October 06, 2000.

While everybody has been disrtracted by oil, it looks like natural gas has sneaked up behind us, and delivered a telling blow.

-- Loner (loner@bigfoot.com), October 06, 2000.