Today Entergy New Orleans will end its shutoff moratorium for people behind on their bills. The suspended shutoffs came at the request of the New Orleans City Council back in July, when electricity prices soared during an unseasonable heat wave. Customers were to use the extra time to work out payment plans with the utility.
Meanwhile, the reasons for those huge summer bills still have not really changed: natural gas prices are up compared to last year, and that is what is used to generate the vast majority of Louisiana's electricity.
"In Louisiana, natural gas makes up somewhere around 70 percent of the power generation," said LSU Center for Energy Studies professor Greg Upton.
Heat waves are not a concern for us now that it is November, but this is the time of year when people start using more natural gas, for home heating.
"Prices are historically actually highest in the winter," said Upton, "during that time when there is a lot of demand for natural gas."
So while we may not need as much gas for heating in our climate, colder regions are about to increase their demand for the global commodity, and prices will follow suit.
Upton says we can expect higher natural gas prices for while, but hopefully not spiking the way it did right after Russia invaded Ukraine.
