Tool 02 — Free
The full natural gas price chain from Henry Hub benchmark to utility gate to end consumer. The spread between these layers reveals the basis risk, transportation premium, and distribution markup embedded in ratepayer bills. Henry Hub data live from EIA. Citygate and residential from verified EIA monthly series N3050US3 and N3010US3, January 1993 to present.
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Henry Hub Spot
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$/MMBtu · Live
U.S. Citygate Avg
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$/MMBtu · Utility gate
Procurement Differential
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Citygate vs Henry Hub
Uri — Feb 2021
3.86
HH spot peak · $/MMBtu
Citygate 1.83 · hedged utilities saved 2.03
Winter Storm Uri (Feb 2021): Henry Hub spot hit 3.86/MMBtu — yet the U.S. average citygate price was only 1.83/MMBtu. Utilities with advance contracts paid 2.03/MMBtu less than the spot market. This 2/MMBtu differential is the quantified value of sound procurement strategy — and the standard for evaluating utility gas purchasing in IRP and rate case proceedings.
Reading the price chain
Henry Hub spot is the market benchmark — the commodity reference price. The citygate is what utilities actually pay at the inlet of their distribution system, including transportation. Residential is the delivered consumer price, including distribution markup. The spreads between layers quantify basis risk, pipeline transportation costs, and distribution economics.
Procurement differential
When the citygate price is below Henry Hub spot, utilities with advance contracts protected ratepayers from the spot market. During Winter Storm Uri, hedged utilities paid 2/MMBtu below spot — a massive ratepayer saving. When the differential is positive, utilities face basis risk or spot exposure exceeding the benchmark.
Commission use
This tracker provides historical context extending back to 1993 — covering the 2001 California energy crisis, post-Katrina spikes, the 2005 hurricane season, the 2008 commodity surge, the shale revolution price collapse, and Winter Storm Uri. This 30-year context is essential for evaluating utility resource plan fuel cost assumptions in formal commission proceedings.
Methodology & Data Sources
Henry Hub (SIN/PCS): EIA v2 API monthly average spot price, $/MMBtu, loaded live. U.S. National Citygate (N3050US3): EIA monthly average citygate price — what utilities pay at the distribution system inlet, originally published in $/Mcf, converted to $/MMBtu by dividing by 1.023 (EIA standard heat content for natural gas). U.S. Residential (N3010US3): EIA monthly average price delivered to residential consumers, same unit conversion. Procurement Differential: Citygate price minus Henry Hub spot — negative values indicate utility contracts delivered below-spot prices; positive indicates spot market exposure or basis premium. Data range: January 1993 to present (Henry Hub live, citygate and residential embedded through January 2026).
See Tool 01 for Duke Energy's actual procurement costs benchmarked against peer utilities — the analysis filed as expert witness testimony before the NCUC. Or contact Dr. Ouattara to commission similar analysis for other utilities.