North Texas Residents Prepare for High Natural Gas Prices.

Byline: Dan Piller

Dec. 12--Texas homeowners, who have just finished absorbing the high costs of keeping their houses cool last summer, can get ready for higher prices to ward off winter cold snaps.

Higher natural gas prices -- caused by increased demand and lower inventories -- and colder weather could cause monthly residential gas bills to double from their level of recent years, utility and government officials warn.

That means that North Texans, who have been accustomed to monthly winter natural gas bills of less than $70, can expect to pay more than $100 per month through the end of winter.

On Monday, the spot price for natural gas rose by 80 cents per million British thermal units, topping $8. Futures prices for the January contract, traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, closed at $9.41. A year ago, natural gas traded below $3 per million Btu in American markets.

TXU figures show that monthly residential gas bills averaged almost $68 from December through February between 1995 and 1998, when natural gas spot prices were under $3 per million Btu. Warmer weather last year, with gas prices about the same, caused average residential bills to drop to $51.

TXU spokeswoman Carol Peters said that about 1.4 million of TXU's 3 million customers rely use natural gas for their furnaces and water heaters.