Columbia Gas customers in Athens County will have some money burning holes in their wallets this winter after natural gas prices fell nearly 20 percent this month.
Through their Standard Service Offer and Columbia Customer’s CHOICE program, the county’s nearly 10,400 Columbia customers will pay 19 percent less than January 2011 and will most likely have low bills throughout the winter, according to a Columbia Gas news release.
With natural gas prices at their lowest in nearly ten years, this is just what families in Ohio needed this winter, said Jack Partridge, president of Columbia Gas of Ohio, in the release.
“Lower gas bills are great news for the many Ohio families who are struggling because of the economy,” Partridge said.
Customers on the SSO program will pay roughly 50 cents per 100 cubic ft. compared to 61 cents last year, according to the release.
In January 2002, customers only paid 48 cents. In November, Columbia gas customers in Athens spent nearly 71 cents per 100 cubic ft., based on the average 1,000 sq. ft. house consuming 2600 cubic ft. of gas per month.
Steve Jablonski, spokesman for the company, said it is hard to dictate how much gas each household uses in a given time because of other factors that could be hindering their choice to turn on their heat.
“Their bill is dictated by what the weather is at any given point, and we don’t take into account conservation measures people use to mitigate their use of gas,” Jablonski said.
Many factors contribute to the falling gas prices, but Ken Stammen, the company’s spokesman, said the increased production of natural gas in recent months has played a very significant role.
“There is no doubt that the increase from shale drilling has contributed to the fall in prices,” Stammen said, adding that along with other state’s production of natural gas, Ohio’s explorations efforts are having the same effect on natural gas’s price levels.
Low industrial demand for natural gas has also contributed to the decrease in price. Stammen said the demand for natural gas has been more residential, and those needs are easier to fill.
“With not a whole lot of big business, a lid has been put on the demand for gas but there is still lots of supply,” he said.
Ohio’s mild winter will most likely keep gas bills low for customers, but Stammen added weather conditions are never certain.
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