- Energy analysts expect record amounts of natural gas to be used for heating today as an Arctic-like freeze blankets the eastern half of the U.S.
- At the same time, the bitter cold could temporarily reduce gas production by causing freeze-offs in the Marcellus and Utica shale, the biggest U.S. gas producing region.
- Overnight lows tonight through Friday will drop to at least -20 F in Chicago and the single-digits along the east coast from New York to Boston, according to AccuWeather.
- Demand for natural gas in the Lower 48 states could hit an all-time high of 148B cf today, S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Platts says, as consumers crank up their heaters.
- PJM, the electric grid operator for all or parts of 13 states from New Jersey to Illinois, forecasts power demand will reach ~142K MW on Thursday, approaching the region’s all-time winter peak of 143,295 MW on Feb. 20, 2015.
- DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) and Xcel Energy (NYSE:XEL) are asking customers to lower their thermostats to take pressure off power systems struggling to meet heating demand.
- ETFs: UNG, UGAZ, XLU, DGAZ, UTG, VPU, BOIL, GUT, IDU, BUI, KOLD, UNL, FUTY, RYU, UHN, UPW, FXU, SDP, GAZB, FUGAX, JHMU
- Now read: Why We Sold UTG Last Week And What We Replaced It With
Original article