Iowa has seen a significant rise in natural gas prices over the last year, citing an uptick in inflation and regulation.
The Choose Energy October 2021 Natural Gas Report said Iowa natural gas prices have climbed by 4.3% in one month, making them the 22nd-highest cost of natural gas in the country.
“Natural gas market prices are higher due to the economic recovery from strong natural gas demand from last winter, along with slower-than-anticipated production this year,” Richard Meyer, vice president, energy markets, analysis and standards at the American Gas Association, told The Daily News.
Given the recent rise, many have taken to criticizing President Joe Biden’s climate change policies.
"By pursuing policies that restrict supply and make it harder to produce oil and natural gas here in America, Americans will have to pay more for their energy," American Exploration and Production Council CEO Anne Bradbury said in a recent statement, criticizing the Biden administration’s energy policy.
A September 2021 paper out of the Niskanen Center demonstrates how subsidizing costs and restricting supply drives the fiscal imbalance.
Steven M. Teles, Samuel Hammond and Daniel Takash authored the paper acknowledging that “(s)oaring costs have blown a hole in the budgets of the working and the middle classes.”
The International Energy Agency said natural gas prices have reached a 13-year high and predicted heating bills will increase by 50% to 75% this year.
The prices of natural gas and propane have increased by 89% and nearly 300%, respectively, a commentary in Real Clear Politics said, making it more costly to stay warm this winter.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts that propane expenditures will rise by 54%, heating oil by 43%, natural gas by 30% and electricity by 6% this year, Forbes said.
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