Instead of ushering in lower prices through competition, California s deregulation has resulted in prices more than 10 times higher than last year s rates. With natural gas rates escalating, utilities are finding themselves faced with insurmountable operational costs. The utilities were reported as saying such measures were necessary to keep them from going belly up. On the home front, Alabama regulators see no point in pursuing deregulation. We don t need to break what s working just to try something that so far hasn t worked very well at all.
Some analysts say production shortfalls are to blame for the price hikes.
Others say low gas prices in the past created market conditions in which few new wells were being drilled. Most agree several factors have contributed to the rise in natural gas prices.