Seasonal usage pattern. While industries use a fairly steady amount of natural gas throughout the year, residential usage is concentrated during the winter months. To recoup their summer operating expenses, LDCs charge residential customers a higher price per Mcf during the months that their usage is lowest. Residential service is not interruptible by law, which means that an LDC can't cut off a home's natural gas supply in the middle of a winter blizzard when capacity is strained. Electric utilities and industrial consumers are able to bargain for lower rates in part by accepting interruptible contracts.
Residential customers pay for having that top priority.
But despite residential pricing problems, natural gas remains the top energy bargain for home owners. A nationwide study released by the U.S. Department of Energy last year named natural gas as the best buy among all residential fuels.