Nov. 5--CHARLESTON, W.Va.--People who heat or cook with natural gas are getting a break this winter: The price is down.

Prices charged by all of the major natural gas distribution companies in West Virginia dropped on Sunday, said Byron Harris, the state Public Service Commission's consumer advocate.

"Last year we had record high natural gas prices," Harris said. "Beginning in the fall of 2008 they started dropping and continued to drop through the summer. Now we're reaping the benefit of that in terms of the rates customers will be paying this winter.

"Nov. 1 is when we change the rates to reflect the cost of gas purchased by utilities," Harris said. "All of the natural gas utilities we track -- we track the seven or eight largest, which probably cover 97 percent of the customers in the state -- went down.

"The decreases range from about 25 to 40 percent, comparing this winter's bills to last winter's," he said.

A typical residential customer uses about 13,000 cubic feet of natural gas in an average winter month.

Mountaineer Gas, which serves the Charleston area, has a total of about 226,000 customers, making it the largest natural gas distribution company in West Virginia. The average winter bill last year was $214.99. This winter it will be $149.98, Harris said.

However, Mountaineer has asked the Public Service Commission for permission to increase its base rate to cover wages, equipment and other costs of doing business. If Mountaineer gets its entire request, the average monthly winter bill would go to $163.07, Harris said.

"That's still cheaper than last winter because of the huge drop in the price of gas but it will be an increase," he said.

Dominion Hope is the second-largest natural gas distribution company in the state. "They had the largest reduction as of Nov. 1," Harris said. "Last winter the average bill for 13,000 cubic feet of gas was $198.69. Beginning Nov. 1 it would be $112.31. But consumers won't see that impact for very long because Hope also has a base-rate case pending before the commission.

"Those rates are supposed to change later this month," Harris said. "So rates will go down very briefly and then will likely go back up."

If Dominion Hope gets all that it has requested, the average winter bill will go up to $149.42. That's still a significant decrease from last year's bills, Harris noted.

"I caution everyone that they cannot count on these very low levels being a permanent condition," he said. "Anything you can do with the savings you have this winter to lower your consumption in the future would be a good thing.

"Markets react and when you have very low prices like this, producers tend to stop drilling and the price goes back up. While this is a welcome relief, people shouldn't get accustomed to these low levels."

The price of most natural gas in the United States is set on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Contracts are per million British thermal units, or BTUs, for delivery at the Henry Hub. A BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree. The Henry Hub is a natural gas pipeline hub in Louisiana that serves as the delivery point for gas under contract.

Last year the average price of natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange was $9.03 per million BTUs. The average so far in 2009 is $3.93, Harris said.

Contact writer George Hohmann at business@dailymail.com or 304-348-4836.

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