Natural gas prices rising for city of Henderson

Natural gas prices are on the rise, warned Henderson Mayor Bobby King and City Recorder Jim Garland during the city’s September meeting on Thursday, September 9.
According to an article by Phil Flynn, a senior energy analyst at The PRICE Futures Group and a Fox Business Network contributor, “With tropical storm Nicholas on the horizon and the aftermath of Hurricane Ida still impacting gasoline prices, natural gas futures are hovering near a seven-year high and supplies are dwindling. That means the U.S. could see the highest heating bills they have seen in years this fall and winter. A slow rebound in production from the hurricane, globally tight supplies, and bad energy policy could equal a natural gas nightmare before Christmas. Natural gas is one of the preferred sources of energy in this country not only for electricity and factories but mainly as a heating source for people’s homes. Over 50% of U.S. homes are heated by natural gas and even those that use electric heat pay for natural gas price increases through the backdoor as 38% of total U.S. natural gas consumption goes into providing electricity.
“Hurricane Ida not only hit 90% of natural gas output but also did major damage to key onshore staging areas and because of that, it is taking much longer to restore natural gas production than ever. Over 78% of the Gulf of Mexico’s Natural gas production remains offline and there is no clear timeline as to when they can get things back to normal. The pace of recovery, in just the natural gas side of the equation, is one of the slowest recoveries in history, worse than Hurricane Katrina back in 2005.”
“That is bad news and timing because this is the time of year the U.S. has to build inventories so that we can have enough supply to get through winter. The way the natural gas market works is kind of like the way squirrels work. At this time of year, they collect their acorns so they can get through winter. That is exactly what the US energy industry has to do with natural gas, so they have to have extra supply and storage so that during cold winters they have enough to meet increased demand.”
“Currently, natural gas supplies in storage are 16.8% below year-ago levels and 7.2% below the five-year average. If we don’t see Gulf production bounce back those supply deficits will grow to cause a situation that could leave us vulnerable to price spikes if not shortages.”
“Get ready, gas rates are going up. There isn’t anything we can do about it,” said Garland.
The city wanted its citizens to know as the winter months approach.
They mentioned that what the City of Henderson charges for natural gas is the price they pay for it. They do not make money from gas bills.
The city board approved the following items during the meeting: the second section of the Fire Department Standard Operating Procedures, an ordinance amending the zoning at Fire Station 1 (505 Sanford Street) and the adjacent lot (the proposed site of the new CC911 Communication Center) from R-1 (Residential) to B-4 (Highway Business) on the first reading, the design of the water main replacement on North Ave from Fourth St. to White Ave., the purchase of 10,000 feet of natural gas pipe at an approximate cost of $15,000.
The city is moving forward with the street lighting project on Kimberly Drive and Highway 45.