Michigan to burn more natural gas for power, but prices lower than ... - MLive.com
Michigan to burn more natural gas for power, but prices lower than last winter - mlive.com
LANSING, MI – State utility regulators said they expect Michigan to burn more natural gas for electricity in the coming year than last year, but prices are way down from last winter.
Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) officials projected the state’s natural gas use to increase by 7.6% in 2023 to 1.06 trillion cubic feet, assuming normal winter weather in the coming season. Experts attribute that rise to a hefty uptick in power generation use – by 33% in 2022 – which overrides natural gas consumption declines across the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors.
Yet despite that significant increase in demand for natural gas, state officials said the projected weighted average commodity price for residential customers of regulated utilities this season is $3.50 per million cubic feet (Mcf) – a big drop from last year’s actual average of $5.80 per Mcf.
That means home heating bills will be lower this coming winter than last year for the more than three-quarters of Michigan homes that are heated with natural gas.
The projections were released this week by the MPSC in its winter energy appraisal for 2023-2024.
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Michigan natural gas storage levels are expected to be 544 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to end 2023, an 18% increase year over year.
Michigan is home to 10% of the nation’s available underground natural gas storage capacity.
As of Oct. 20, overall U.S. inventories of natural gas were 3,700 Bcf, which is more than 9% higher than in 2022.
State energy experts also reported that residential propane prices as of October 2023 averaged $2.09 per gallon, a decrease of 16.6% from last year.
About 8% of Michigan households are heated with propane and the state uses more of that fuel type for residential heating than any other state.
The complete Michigan winter energy appraisal can be read here.
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