Natural Gas and Electric Prices

The Labor Department released August data on producer prices on September 10.

Notably, the average price for the natural gas sold to electric power producers was fifty-two percent higher in August than in August of 2020.

The average price of natural gas sold to commercial and industrial customers was twenty-nine percent and forty-five percent higher in August than in August of 2020, respectively.

And the average price of electricity sold to commercial and industrial customers was four percent and five percent higher in August than in August of 2020, respectively.

The Labor Department also released August data on consumer prices on September 14.

The average price of electricity sold to residential customers, that is, residential electric rates, was 5.2 percent higher in August than in August of 2020.

This increase was in line with overall inflation, barely. The Consumer Price Index for all goods and services was 5.3 percent higher in August than in August of 2020.

The impact of natural gas prices trending up was unmistakable. Not surprisingly, the average price of natural gas sold to residential customers also rose during this same twelve-month period, by 21.1 percent.