“Electricity prices, historically tied to the gas market, also are falling, although not necessarily for consumers. That’s because many power companies have raised rates to upgrade an aging power grid, install pollution controls and build new generators.”
Bloomberg reports,
Natural gas prices that slumped to a 10-year low this month could save U.S. consumers $16.5 billion on home energy bills over the course of a year, according to a senior economist at the U.S. Federal Reserve.
U.S. households might see total savings from lower gas prices of as much as $113 billion a year through 2015, including tack-on effects such as lower product prices and higher wages generated by cheaper fuel, according to energy industry consultants IHS Inc.
The projected savings is “an unbelievable amount of money,” said Greg Ebel, chief executive of Spectra Energy Corp., during a Jan. 17 interview. “That’s better than any tax cut you’ve seen out there, better than any government handout”…