Natural gas usage levels are continuing a strong growth trend as more and more consumers are using the commodity to heat their homes. Of the single-family homes constructed in 2000, 70% of them featured natural gas heat, according to the 2000 Residential Natural Gas Market Survey released Friday by the American Gas Association (AGA). Electric heat captured 27%, followed by heating oil at 3%, the survey found.

“Natural gas has been consumers’ favorite energy for home heating for more than 12 years, because customers prefer the comfort, reliability and value of natural gas heat. Along with natural gas heating systems, savvy builders are also including natural gas fireplaces, barbecue grills, garage heaters and other amenities in new homes to meet consumer demand,” said David Parker, AGA CEO.

He added that the natural gas share of new single-family home completions matched or exceeded the electric share in all regions. The survey also found that more than one of every 10 new natural gas residential customers in 2000 converted to natural gas from electricity, heating oil and other energy sources.

In the multi-family sector, natural gas captured 45% of the units completed in 2000, up from 43% in 1999. In total, gas house-heating market share of new housing increased from 64% in 1999 to 65% in 2000. The electric home-heating market share dropped from 33% to 32% in 2000.

According to the U.S Department of Energy, 59 million residential customers, or 61% of total existing U.S. households, used natural gas in 2000. Approximately 83% of these gas customers use it for house-heating purposes, representing 51% of total U.S. homes with heat. The total number of natural gas residential customers rose by nearly 1 million between 1999 and 2000, the AGA survey found.

The survey also showed that gas and electric utilities in 2000 made available $380 million in the form of discounts, waivers, forgiveness of arrearages and weatherization programs. An additional $51 million was directed to customers in need from fuel funds, often sponsored by utilities.

To order a copy of the report, visit www.aga.org.

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