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Good news: Gas prices down by 30-70%

One year ago, Illinois residents were recovering from a polar vortex that pushed natural gas prices as high as a record $1.21 a therm.

Flash forward to this spring and gas prices have fallen by as much as 84 cents per therm. The prices change on a monthly basis, but check out what the major utilities are charging in April, compared with last year:

Utility April 2014 Gas Price April 2015 Gas Price Difference
Ameren 64.94 cents/therm 43.17 cents/therm -33.5%
Nicor Gas 68 cents/therm 35 cents/therm -48.5%
North Shore Gas $1.21/therm 40.64 cents/therm -66.4%
Peoples Gas $1.19/therm 35.34 cents/therm -70.3%

Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas customers paid their highest April rates ever in 2014 (and CUB made a lot of noise about it), but this April their rates have plummeted by more than 80 cents a therm. Nicor Gas’ rate dropped by 33 cents a therm, and Ameren’s by 24 cents a therm.

The reason? Well, the gas industry will tell you it’s all about supply and demand. But we’ve always thought there’s more to the story, and in response to skyrocketing gas and electric bills last winter we even called for a federal review of the energy markets.

For more information about historical gas prices, see CUB’s Natural Gas Price Checker, the only comprehensive database of gas prices for Illinois’ major utilities. Also, join CUB Energy Saver to find simple actions to cut your bills.