Other energy prices
• Electricity tends not to be as volatile as natural gas because it doesn’t fluctuate on the open market and utilities are locked into a specific rate.
• Heating oil is currently about 10 to 20 cents per gallon lower than it was last year. Even if the winter is cold, costs should remain lower.
SOUTH BEND — When it comes to natural gas prices this year, everything depends on the weather.
“It’s the big wild card,” said Jim Patterson, associate editor at The Kiplinger Letter, a Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice. “It’s a question of whether it will be comparable to last winter or something much milder.”
In September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a preliminary winter outlook, which predicted below normal snowfall and slightly elevated temperatures December through February in the Michiana region.
But temperatures are difficult to predict more than three to four weeks out, said Nick Greenawalt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He explained that while precipitation is predicted based on climate changes, temperature projections are based on various trends, which can change.
“Right now, we are weakly tilted to above normal,” he said, “but we have equal chances for either above or below normal temperatures.”
The official winter outlook won’t be published until Oct. 16.
Copyright © 2024, South Bend Tribune