Gas is the volatile fuel on your bill
Compared with residential electricity — whose retail rates move in regulated steps — residential natural gas is a rawer commodity: the price you pay tracks the market gas the utility buys, plus delivery. The twenty-year monthly record on this site shows the pattern clearly: long stretches of quiet, punctuated by sharp winter spikes (2005, 2008, 2014's polar vortex, 2021–2022's price shock), each fading back toward the baseline within a year or two.
The full series is public: see the gas price history page for every state, or pull the raw numbers from the open-data CSVs.
Live from the EIA data on this site
Across our tracked gas states, residential gas runs from $9.31/Mcf (New Mexico) to $66.84/Mcf (Hawaii).
Why the winter bill moves more than the price
Two multipliers stack in winter:
- Usage explodes. Space heating is the largest gas end-use in a typical home; January consumption can run several times an April's. A modest percentage price increase on quadrupled usage reads as a scary bill.
- Peak-season pricing. Utilities and pipelines recover winter capacity costs in the same months demand peaks, so the commodity piece often rises into the high-usage season.
That is why two winters with identical average prices can produce very different bills — weather-driven usage dominates the total.
Gas heat vs. electric heat: the honest comparison
The comparison is physics plus local prices: a gas furnace turns ~92% of its fuel into heat (modern AFUE), a heat pump delivers ~3 units of heat per unit of electricity (seasonal COP), and plain resistance heating delivers 1-for-1. Which is cheapest depends on your state's gas and power prices — in most states heat pumps beat resistance heating everywhere, and against gas the answer flips state by state.
Our gas-vs-electric heating calculator runs that comparison per state with labeled assumptions — seasonal load, COP and AFUE adjustable — and the state gas price pages carry the monthly local numbers behind it.
Managing the winter bill
- Watch the gas-price line, not just the total. Splitting commodity from delivery shows whether a winter jump was usage or price.
- Budget plans smooth the season — utilities average the year's cost into level monthly payments; no savings, but no February shock.
- Efficiency is worth more in gas-heated homes in cold states — the same percentage heat-loss cut repeats every winter month.
Prices shown across this site are residential averages from EIA Form 176/852-derived series; your utility's tariff sets the exact pass-through.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my gas bill so much higher in winter?
Usage and price stack: heating multiplies consumption several-fold in the cold months, and capacity costs push the commodity price up into the same season. The bill multiplies the two.
Are natural gas prices going up long term?
The twenty-year record shows spikes (2005, 2008, 2014, 2021–2022) that faded back toward baseline rather than a staircase — but delivery-side rate cases have drifted total bills upward between shocks. The history page shows the full series.
Is gas heating cheaper than electric?
It depends on local prices: a 92% gas furnace beats resistance electric heat almost everywhere, but modern heat pumps (about 3× efficiency) beat gas in many states — the calculator on this site runs your state’s numbers with labeled assumptions.
Where can I find my state’s natural gas price history?
The natural-gas-price-history page carries the twenty-year monthly residential series per state, and the open-data page offers the raw CSV.
Sources & further reading
WattRate publishes EIA data and general explainers — not financial advice. Your own bill reflects your utility's tariffs and your usage.