Why Gas Bills Are Going Crazy—With No End in Sight

Supply challenges contributed to the most volatile year on record for natural gas

High gas bills left Pabco Building Products with two choices: take losses or raise prices. Bridget Bennett for The Wall Street Journal

Homeowners and businesses across the country have seen their gas bills go wild—and the turbulence isn’t going to calm down anytime soon.

Last year was the most volatile on record for natural gas, boosting the cost to heat homes, generate electricity and manufacture economic building blocks such as fertilizer and steel. Prices in 2022 whipsawed from unseasonable lows to shale-era highs and back again. Benchmark gas futures, which determine what millions of Americans pay for heat and electricity, swung by at least 7% on 44 days last year, the most since at least the early 1990s, when gas markets were deregulated and the modern trading era began. 

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