Reply #30: Good point!

[Dogmudgeon]

I do think that there will be a price rise, but we've seen most of it already. I'm personally planning for $3.50-$3.75, so $3 would be a pleasant break.

Heating gas will be much more expensive, but I doubt that it will be 71% more expensive, which is the "official" prediction. My local natural gas supplier has already made plans for a 26% increase, which is nasty, but not a bank-breaker.

The fear I have is that the situation will become radically worse over the next five to ten years. It's going to take at least that long to convert to more efficient energy use, new sources, and better ways of doing things. $5/gal gas for next winter is more likely; for winter of 2007, probable. But we're still at the "knee of the curve".

--p!