As the East Coast continues to be battered by sub-freezing temperatures, KeySpan revealed Wednesday that its consumers on Monday broke an all-time gas consumption record in New York City that was set last year. Meanwhile, spot prices soared all the way up to $19/MMBtu on Tuesday for Wednesday flow at Transco Zone 6 New York and reached highs of $20 on Wednesday.

On Monday, Brooklyn recorded the highest sendout in KeySpan history at 1,088,878 Dth, surpassing last year’s Jan. 23 record sendout of 1,086,503 Dth. KeySpan pointed out that on a typical day in January, customers in the area usually consume 800,000 Dth of natural gas. In addition to Brooklyn, KeySpan also provides natural gas service to the boroughs of Staten Island and Queens.

“During this cold snap, KeySpan has been working tirelessly to provide continuous gas service to our customers,” said CEO Robert Catell.

Citing the fact that a number of weather forecasters are calling for some cold snap relief later this week, the company said it anticipates demand will slow towards Friday. Despite the run up on usage, KeySpan assured that it has more than adequate supplies to meet its firm customers’ needs throughout New York City, Long Island and New England.

In Long Island, KeySpan said its consumers have used 56% more natural gas than is normally used during this time of year. In late January, Long Island usually requires 450,000 Dth/d.

KeySpan Energy Delivery New England is the largest gas distributor in New England and its gas demand has been running above 1,000,000 Dth/d since Jan. 13, when it hit a new demand record of nearly 1.5 Bcf/d, compared to a normal demand level of about 705,000 Dth/d. KeySpan has about 800,000 New England customers through subsidiaries Boston Gas, Colonial Gas and Essex Gas in Massachusetts and Energy North in New Hampshire.

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