Featured Article
What is Supply Market Intelligence?
A Word from our Partner
Higher Expectations,
Fewer Resources;
Is There a Silver Lining?
Market Forces
Consumer-Directed Health Plan Growth Levels Off Among Employers
Patient Protection Act
or Patent Protection Act?
Energy Update:
Natural Gas Prices, and Electric
Customer Switching Statistics
Sourcing Operations
Update
Sourcing Project Updates
Member Spotlight
Steven Hughes,
Vertis Communications
Contract Spotlight
Three Fastest-Growing Contracts
Networking & Events
Mid-Year Review
and Supplier Showcase Recap
Corporate United 2008
Supplier of the Year
In The News
Arslanian and Goldford
Join Corporate United
Corporate United Named
to Inc. 5000 List
Office Products Industry News:
Staples Buys Corporate Express
Eaton Named to List of Most Ethical Companies
Member Feedback
Member Advisory Board
Meeting Notes
Natural Gas Prices
These charts show how the natural gas futures contracts have traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Natural gas and other commodity futures prices can be found at www.nymex.com, www.cme.com, www.futuresource.com and www.ino.com.
This short-term strip (Aug-Oct) is trading at $9.14/MMBtu, down 33% from its peak on July 4th. The dramatic run-up in prices that began on January 2 has begun to give back much of its gains. The day trading mentality that hit the commodities market finally appears to be subsiding. Market fundamentals (supply, demand and inventory) have remained acceptable throughout and did not appear to influence these wild swings either up or down. The price correlation between crude oil and natural gas prices has also broken and natural gas has plummeted. We could see further price declines as storage inventories rebuild and if hurricane season does minimal damage along the Gulf of Mexico.
Like the 3-month strip, the 12-month strip (Aug-Jul) for natural gas has given back much of its increase and is now trading at $9.55/MMBtu. Despite the welcomed decline, prices remain 20% higher than they were to start the year. In January, consumers would have thought $9.55 to be a terrible price for gas; a month ago, the same consumers would have been pleading for this rate.
Electric Customer Switching Statistics
These charts show what percentage of electrical load (in MegaWatts) has been switched away from the regulated local utilities to the competing marketers. For more information, visit the website listed for each state.
New customer switching was prohibited in California in the fall of 2001, but customers who had already chosen a supplier could continue to shop for offers as their agreements ended. As of April 2007, customer switching is once again permitted. New customer switches must provide three months notice to their local utility. www.worldenergy.com
There is no regulated “price to beat” for Texas electric customers to compare against. The market is fully deregulated in most of the state and everyone should be shopping for electric supply to meet their needs and risk tolerance. www.worldenergy.com
