For three years it's been a bear market for natural-gas sellers and a boon for consumers. The wintertime price for BGE's natural gas has dropped from almost $1 per therm in 2008 to like 60 cents now. The big factors, of course, are the bum economy and huge new gas supplies made available by hydrofracking of shale formations.

A ConocoPhillips commodities analyst says this may not go on forever and he gives several reasons, including regulation of hydrofracking and rising demand for natural gas as a relatively clean fuel for electricity generation. From Platts:

"The talk of shale makes everyone think we're way oversupplied," said Jim Duncan, ConocoPhillips' chief analyst and commodities markets strategist, at the LDC Gas Forum Rockies & West in Los Angeles. "The reality is that we're not. The signposts are already here."

However, Platts reports that Duncan "remained bearish" on natural gas. My advice to BGE customers hasn't changed: Go with BGE's or WGES's month to month floating price. The deals that lock in your price probably won't save you money this winter and they don't let you lock in long enough to save money in future winters.