The extended cold weather forced the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday to issue an alert on the supply constraints and expected skyrocketing prices of natural gas in Connecticut and all of the Northeast.
Because of the extended cold weather, natural gas demand rose 8 percent in New England and 2 percent in New York on Tuesday. Because the pipelines feeding natural gas into the region from the west and the south have been constrained, EIA says Connecticut and its surrounding states should expect nearly a tripling in prices.
Over the weekend, the average price of natural gas in New England was $16 per million Btu, but that rose to $38.10 on Monday as the temperatures started to drop in the evening. The prices will continue to get worse through the cold weather.
Tuesday’s alert came on the same day that EIA said New England and New York had the highest natural gas price increases of 2013.
Last year, New England saw its natural gas prices rise 75 percent and New York’s rose 61 percent. The national average increase was 35 percent.
