Drillers are now starting fewer wells – but those wells are a lot more expensive. State revenues from natural gas drilling are increasing. Electric utilities are switching from coal to gas. An article at Herald-Dispatch explores these and more.

Falling natural gas prices and an abundance of local production could result in significant rate cuts for lots of residential gas customers who live near developing gas fields. Customers of UGI Utilities, located in Reading, Pennsylvania could pay 16.3% less for their gas next winter.

Lafayette, Louisiana will start converting its fleet of buses and public works vehicles to natural gas. Much of that gas will likely come from the Haynesville Shale. More at the Daily Comet.

The price of natural gas is not uniform across the United States. Instead, the price is determined by supply, demand, proximity to production, regulatory environments and the cost of natural gas that is flowing in the local distribution system. More at Geology.com.

Natural gas is used in an amazing number of ways. Although it is widely seen as a cooking and heating fuel in most US households, natural gas has many other energy and raw material uses that are a surprise to most people who learn about them. More in an article at Geology.com.

A Senate bill proposes $3.8 billion in rebates to buyers to select natural gas vehicles. More at Business Wire.

An article at Bloomberg.com speculates that the demand for LNG (liquefied natural gas) in China might increase by 48% by 2020.

An article on the Christian Science Monitor website reacts to a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology study that positions natural gas as a “bridge fuel” in the energy future of the United States.

An article on the Journal of Energy Security website explores energy consumption in India. Industry there has historically used lots of coal but new sources of gas and new pipelines could significantly expand the importance of natural gas.

During 2009, the economic downturn cut the use of natural gas by commercial and industry customers while the amount of gas used for electricity generation increased. Production levels continued to increase even though prices remained weak. See the review at the Energy Information Administration website.

“Natural gas will play a leading role in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions over the next several decades, largely by replacing older, inefficient coal plants with highly efficient combined-cycle gas generation. That’s the conclusion reached by a comprehensive study of the future of natural gas conducted by an MIT study group comprised of 30 MIT faculty members, researchers, and graduate students.” Quoted from the MIT press release.

“Appliance efficiency gains, improved housing construction, population shift towards warmer regions, higher commodity price, and an increase in the share of natural gas customers who do not use natural gas as their primary space heating fuel have resulted in a significant decrease in the average volume of natural gas used by U.S. households with natural gas service. Per customer consumption fell in 16 out of the past 19 years. On a weather-adjusted basis, U.S. residential consumption over the 19-year period (1990-2009) fell from 95 thousand cubic feet (Mcf) per customer in 1990 to 74 Mcf in 2009, or 22 percent.” Quoted from the EIA press release.

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about how the recent natural gas shale discoveries are going to change geopolitics, economies and how energy is used.

An article on the Houston Chronicle website explores how rising energy demands and the slow rate of renewable energy development might keep the world tied to fossil fuels long into the future.

The Colorado Legislature has placed the state’s leading electric power producer in a position where it must decide to replace its coal-fired power generation units with natural gas or retrofit the plants with new coal-burning technologies. More at The Denver Channel.