He noted that Niagara Mohawk does not profit from the higher market price of natural gas. The company passes the cost of the commodity directly on to customers without markup. The utility can only earn a return on the local delivery of the product, and those prices won t change for the next three years. In July, the Public Service Commission approved a settlement agreement involving Niagara Mohawk and a variety of parties, which froze the company s delivery rates at their current levels for the next three years. Under the same agreement, transportation charges the cost of getting the gas from the place it is produced to Niagara Mohawk s service territory are expected to remain stable.
Natural gas is produced from wells located primarily in the Gulf States and Canada.
It is transported through a network of interstate pipelines to the local delivery systems of companies such as Niagara Mohawk. Since natural gas is a deregulated commodity its price is dictated by the strength of the demand for gas and the readily available supply. For example, the nation s prolonged economic expansion has increased the demand for all forms of energy. Meanwhile, higher petroleum prices have kept industry from switching to oil from natural gas to meet their production needs. In addition, an increasing amount of clean-burning natural gas is being used to generate electricity.