[Smokin' Joe]

Natural gas isas fungible as oil, once the distribution and delivery problems are solved. Delivery to Chicago would reduce heating bills in North Dakota (where I live).

I expect the cost of heat to exceed my mortgage payments this year, about 2 1/2 times what it cost last year. If it only doubles, I'll be able to relax.

(Yes, we are finding any weak spots in the insulation and remediating them--older home). Otherwise, my day rate is going up.

[RightWhale]

We'll just put it in one end of the pipeline and the other end is in the general direction of the midwest. I suppose it will connect to other pipelines rather than emerge into the open air. 1-3 billion cu ft a day if my numbers are anywhere near right. I have no idea if that is a lot of gas.

[VeniVidiVici]

Folks that heat with electricity may want to check and see if their utility has a billing/usage feature that's called Time of Use.

In a nutshell, any electricity I use during what I call primetime, currently 12pm - 9pm for my utility, is charged at double the normal rate. Right now normal being around .08kwh so primetime usage is charged at around .16kwh.

Now, the better part of this is lowtime usage. Non-primetime usage during the week, and all day weekends and holidays, is charged at half the normal rate, or about .04kwh.

This works well for us and our lifestyle and has been saving us between 75.00 - 100.00 a month during the summer months since 1996.