SeniorARK Editorial:  Bob Fassbach, Editor, www.seniorark.com

Source: www.SaveOnUtilities.com

DON'T SUCK GAS---AGAIN

Updated August 21, 2009 

You've done it at the gas pump. Refuse to do it in your furnace! Our suppliers are saving big time. Why is it not being passed through to consumers? You CAN make a difference!

August 21, 2009  $2.80 per MM BTU                         

Five year history of Natural Gas Prices

Falling natural gas prices, which have dropped far below a December (2005) peak of nearly $15.00 per million British thermal units, have prompted one energy company to curtail production to keep prices high, but others haven't jumped on that bandwagon.

Natural gas futures at 3:00 PM EST, August 21, 2009  were trading at $2.80 for September delivery. That is ABOUT 1/5 the December 2005 price, an 80% DROP! So why are we still paying the high prices triggered by the sharp increases  experienced in December 2005????

Local natural gas utilities are beginning to respond, realizing that these savings must AT LEAST APPEAR to be passed on to the consumer. Gas prices at the wholesale level are less than one third what they were December 2005. And yet we are beginning to hear that utilities are planning on reductions to the consumer of only 4 to 12%. In April, 2009, Columbia Gas sent our editor a notice that they were petitioning for a 24% retail reduction effective next October. We believe this request is nothing short of theft.  NATURAL GAS PRICES AT THE WHOLESALE LEVEL HAVE BEEN REDUCED over 75% since December 2005 FOR OUR GAS COMPANIES. This is an outrage. The Senior who has been gouged at the gasoline pump for the last few years should not sit and take another gouging at the basement furnace.

Your state legislators need to hear from you today. STATES REGULATE what the gas company can charge you for their gas. This is very different than how gasoline prices are set. Regulators are controlled by your elected officials. Email, or snail mail your elected officials today and tell them you will not stand for another gouging. Go to  government/links , look at the State and Local Government Resources section.   In the left hand column you will see three sections in RED. Click on those links and you will be able to find the folks in your state who can do something about it. This is a powerful weapon. Good luck to us all. I am emailing Governor Rendell in Pennsylvania today!

If you don't let your elected officials see this, or a similar article, then don't complain when that big fat gas bill arrives in the mail.