Natural gas prices on the rise

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Renita Jablonski: There’s another type of gas that’s also taken a big leap. Natural gas prices are going up. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.

Ashley Milne-Tyte: Although it’s June and already sweltering on the East Coast, natural gas prices are almost double what they were in December. That’s when a lot of people are tapping natural gas supplies to heat their homes.

James Williams is an energy economist with WTRG Economics. He says a fairly cold winter diminished those supplies. And then there are the power plants that often switch between natural gas and oil to operate.

James Williams: There hasn’t been any fuel switching to speak of, because petroleum is so overpriced relative to gas that we just consumed a lot more gas and took our storage levels down to where people are wondering if we can match last year’s storage levels.

And that means we could be in for an expensive winter.

I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.