Nov. 17, 2016: Yesterday, the Labor Department published October’s producer price index for numerous goods and services.
You’re likely most interested in what’s happened to the price of turkey. Thanksgiving is just a week away. Great news! Turkey’s price is down 16.6 percent from last year.
Suppose you’re also interested in electricity and natural gas price trends.
The PPI for residential electricity is up 0.2 percent from October 2015. For commercial electricity, it’s up 0.5 percent.
The PPI for residential natural gas is up 5.9 percent from October 2015. For commercial natural gas, it’s up 4.8 percent.
Natural gas prices are rebounding somewhat from last fall’s low levels. This hasn’t yet affected the electricity price trend. But that’s probably coming.
The PPI for natural gas supplied to power plants is up 3.5 percent from October 2015.
We’ve been enjoying moderate electricity prices, in real terms, from low gas prices. Few consumers have known or appreciated this. Now, we may see electricity prices increase a bit, in real terms.
Please pass the gravy. This year, Public Utilities Fortnightly is thankful for relatively low electricity and natural gas prices for all our readers and, more importantly, for all their utility customers and regulatory constituents.
