U.S. natural gas rates jumped past $6 for the first occasion since late 2022 on Monday as a significant winter storm occurred across the nation, leaving countless individuals without power and prompting mass flight cancellations.
Natural gas futures for February delivery soared by 18%, or 95 cents, reaching $6.2 per million British thermal units at 8:15 a.m. London time (3:15 a.m. ET), achieving a new 52-week peak.
This marks the first occurrence the contract, which has risen approximately 68% year-to-date, has exceeded the $6 threshold since December 2022, when European demand for U.S. liquefied natural gas surged following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
According to PowerOutage.us, which aggregates real-time data on power outages from utilities nationwide, over 822,000 customers were reported without power following a significant winter storm late Sunday afternoon.
The severe cold snap, referred to as Winter Storm Fern, was anticipated to deliver widespread heavy snowfall and “catastrophic ice accumulations” from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), impacting at least 180 million individuals across 37 states.
Wind chills could plunge to -50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45.56 degrees Celsius) across the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. this week, the NWS stated in a social media update on Sunday, with temperatures significantly below average forecasted to persist into early February.
The severe weather has been associated with the fatalities of seven individuals nationwide, reported NBC News, citing local authorities.
On Sunday, more than 12,500 flights within the U.S. were canceled, as reported by FlightAware, with an additional 3,965 cancellations reported on Monday so far. Delta Air Lines, which had previously advised passengers to reschedule their flights, announced on Sunday that it planned to operate on a reduced schedule due to the icy conditions affecting its operations.
The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday issued two urgent orders to prevent blackouts in New England and Texas, aiming to stabilize the grids and reduce the chances of outages.
“As Winter Storm Fern unleashes severe cold and perilous conditions across the nation, ensuring affordable, dependable, and secure power is imperative,” stated U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in a Monday announcement.
Power outages are estimated to result in costs of approximately $44 billion annually for the U.S., according to data from the DOE’s National Laboratories.
