200 Therms Monthly Gas Consumption
(Equivalent of 143 gallons of oil)
Utility
Total
Per Therm Cost
Real Gas Cost Compared to Oil*
Bay
State Gas
$281.99
$1.41
$1.96
Berkshire Gas
$301.95
$1.51
$2.10
Blackstone Gas
$311.86
$1.56
$2.17
KeySpan/National Grid (Boston)
$331.24
$1.66
$2.30
KeySpan/National Grid (Cape Cod)
$343.23
$1.72
$2.39
KeySpan/National Grid (Lowell)
$346.12
$1.73
$2.41
KeySpan/National Grid (Essex)
$327.55
$1.64
$2.28
Fall River Gas
$286.54
$1.43
$1.99
Fitchburg Gas
$345.54
$1.73
$2.40
NStar Gas
$274.00
$1.37
$1.90
North Attleboro Gas
$321.40
$1.61
$2.23
Average
$315.58
$1.58
$2.19
*As a heating source
measured in British thermal units (Btu), a gallon of heating
oil has 40% more energy than a therm of gas. There are
100,000 Btu in a therm of gas and 140,000 Btu in a gallon
of heating oil. You must use 1.39 therms of gas to generate
the heat content of a gallon of heating oil. Therefore,
to account for the Btu difference between a therm of gas
and a gallon of heating oil, you must multiply the price
per therm by 1.39. This gives you the real cost of gas
heat compared to oil — the most valid cost when comparing
the two fuels.
To Our Retail Members: You can use
your oil company's cost per gallon for heating oil to
compare the costs above or use the most recent statewide average price collected by the Massachusetts Division
of Energy Resources (DOER).
*Real costs
are calculated from the winter 2007-2008
residential gas utility rates set by the
Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications
initially on November 1, 2007 through April
2008.
