Residents in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico who heat their homes with natural gas are now paying an estimated $14.08 per million BTU of delivered heat – up from $13.78 per million BTU a year ago, while gas-fired heat for domestic hot water is $18.08 per million BTU this year compared to $17.31 per million BTU last year. All prices are calculated for the period beginning July 1 and ending June 30.
The cost of heating with natural gas has been trending upwards at more than 12 percent per year over the past 10 years.
The price will likely continue upward on this trend, or worsen as degradation of the natural-gas supply catches up to where petroleum is now. Petroleum prices have climbed 68 percent from this time last year, and although some of that being blamed on the weakening dollar, the two phenomena are clearly linked.
Residential heat from natural gas is still a relatively good buy compared with heat from electricity (about $22 per MMBTU in New Mexico), heating oil ($36 per MMBTU in the northeast), or propane ($50 per MMBTU in New Mexico).
The degradation of gas price stability and its upward climb as the resource degrades is here:
Delivery, surcharges, and taxes are not included.