Slight

Idaho regulators are taking comments from stakeholders until Sept. 20 on a slight proposed natural gas rate decrease by Intermountain Gas Co., which told the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that retail utility bills won’t be increasing in the future, reflecting what it called stability in wholesale gas prices.

January-ending prices used a slight trend toward colder weather in northern market areas and residual support from Friday’s expiration-day gain of 17.1 cents by the January futures contract to rise at nearly all points Monday.

As a result of higher natural gas prices, Xcel Energy last week proposed an 18% increase in January 2006 natural gas commodity prices. Coupled with a slight increase in use, projected bills would increase next month by 17% for typical residential customers and by 24% for typical small-business customers. If approved, the new prices would take effect Jan. 1, 2006.

With storage use growing and a slight moderating trend from the early-week eastern cold snap in place, prices were in retreat across the board Wednesday. Most losses were less than a quarter, but some Northeast citygates fell by around a dollar or more after leading the preceding trek upward.

Prices strayed mostly short distances to either side of flat Thursday, with moderate gains tending to outweigh the losses despite sources contending that substantive heating load remains hard to find — for now. Most of the declines occurred in the West.

Prices strayed mostly short distances to either side of flat Thursday, with moderate gains tending to outweigh the losses despite sources contending that substantive heating load remains hard to find — for now. Most of the declines occurred in the West.

For the relatively small price of a slight procedural delay, the Mackenzie Gas Project won the opening round of a regulatory fencing match with conservationists that had potential to cut the ground out from under the northern pipeline project.

For the relatively small price of a slight procedural delay, the Mackenzie Gas Project won the opening round of a regulatory fencing match with conservationists that had potential to cut the ground out from under the northern pipeline project.

Swing prices moved lower again Tuesday despite hints that cooling demand will be rising slowly in the next few days. New declines were fairly moderate in the East, ranging from barely lower to just shy of 15 cents, with a majority of points falling less than a dime. Declining weather load caused western markets to record bigger losses from a little under a dime to slightly more than 20 cents.