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Summer, 2011 - Vol 1, Issue 1
In This Issue
KEYTEX Energy Debuts Scholarship for High School Seniors
Electricity Prices Are Rising - Should You Shop Now for a New Generation Supplier?
Natural Gas: Supply and Demand
KEYTEX Can Help You Save on Natural Gas Procurement
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KEYTEX Energy Debuts Scholarship for High School Seniors 
 

KEYTEX Scholar Day

 KEYTEX Energy held their first annual KEYTEX Scholar Day on Wednesday, May 18, 2011, at their Greensburg office. Fourteen Westmoreland County high school seniors currently  pursuing college/professional careers in engineering or the energy industry, along with their guidance counselors, participated in the event. All of the participants were from schools that currently utilize KEYTEX Energy consulting services to procure their electric generation. During the event a panel of five judges, arranged by KEYTEX owner Greg Cammerata, that included academic, governmental and private industry representation, separately met with small groups of candidates. Following the interview process, the judges met and reached an extremely challenging decision to award scholarships of $2,500 to Daniel DeLellis (Latrobe HS), and $1,750 each to Michelle Krynock (Kiski HS), and Jonathan Miedel (Yough HS).

"It was a very uplifting and rewarding day for everyone that participated - the first of many which we intend to expand going forward ", said Cammerata.

 

To Read the Full Article, go to: http://www.keytexenergy.com/KeyTexScholarDay.html  

Electricity Prices Are Rising

Should You Shop Now for a New Generation Supplier?

  

It is summer again and electricity prices, like temperatures, tend to go up as the days get longer.  If your home or business is not under contract, should you give up and wait for autumn?  Not necessarily.

  

 PJM Graph

It is true that current prices are at a 12 month high.  Chart A above shows wholesale prices measured at the PJM West Hub.   Prices for the balance of 2011, shown as the blue line, reached $60 per megawatt-hour last week.  Pricing for other years have also touched annual peaks.  Is this the worst ever for price conscious buyers?  Hardly - to get perspective look at the 5 year trend in Chart B below.  You can see that in the recent past prices were above $80/MWH several times and even reached $120 in 2008.  Maybe $60 is not so bad.

 

Chart B
 

What matters is what you pay now, compared to prices from alternative suppliers.  Whoever supplies your generation is facing the same market forces that are driving the price curves in these charts.  Are you seeing increases?  For example, customers of PPL Electric in Pennsylvania that have not switched will see generation price increases of 33% this month.  Most of these can save money by immediately finding alternative generation suppliers.   We are seeing sharp increases in other areas as well - PECO in Pennsylvania and Columbus Southern in Ohio come to mind.

KEYTEX can help.  We can analyze your usage patterns and get competitive pricing from our network of two dozen generation suppliers.  From there we can advise you when, or if, you should sign a generation contract.  You may be pleasantly surprised! 

Natural Gas: Supply and Demand

A Short History:

When the economy reached its bottom in March of 2009, Natural Gas prices hovered in the $4.50 range. Natural gas then peaked towards the end of 2009, beginning of 2010, close to $6.00. For the last year, prices have moved between a low of just under $4.00 to a high close to $5.00. This may seem like a large movement, +/- 20% or so, but it pales with the high prices between 2006 and 2008, when gas reached highs in the $12.00 range.

  

The Near Term Horizon:  

Currently, there is an excess of natural gas supply caused primarily by shale gas. This increased supply should keep natural gas prices low for the most part. However, supply is not the only issue. Pipeline infrastructure that brings this gas to market has lagged behind drilling and should keep prices from going much lower. In addition, lifting costs for shale gas range from a low of $3.00 to a high of $4.00. In the opinion of many, this will keep prices fairly stable over the next several months. Only spikes in weather, cold or hot, and hurricane activity would make prices temporarily volatile.

 

 NYMEX Settlement Prices 

 

 Best Times to Buy Gas:

While stable pricing, compared to years past, is expected, as you can see from the chart above, prices can move 20% or so. This is significant dollars in your energy budget. Historically and statistically, the best time to buy the one year strip has been mid to late winter and early fall. Therefore, one of the buying seasons will soon be here. Absent a bad hurricane season, look to lock in prices before the end of October. KEYTEX Energy will send you market updates when prices make significant movement, but you can track prices as often as you like on the following web site: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=NRGSNG12:IND.  

KEYTEX Can Help You Save on Natural Gas Procurement 

Many of our existing customers do not realize that KEYTEX Energy is also competitive in the natural gas market. Sam Perry, Director of Gas Operations, provides you with our in-house expertise on the latest natural gas and money saving trends. Mr. Perry has over 35 years of executive experience in the energy business, with the majority of those years focused in natural gas. With a 28 year career at Equitable Resources, his expertise is extensive: rate making, drilling programs, interstate gas pipelines, gas supply, natural gas trading, FERC regulations, corporate planning, sales and marketing, and acquisitions. Along with various executive sales and management positions, Mr. Perry held the position of Marketing. From 2001 - 2009 he worked at the Hess Corporation as the Regional Sales Manager for the Ohio Valley. In this position, he had responsibilities for the region covering Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. 

 

To learn more about the natural gas market and how KEYTEX can help you save, contact Sam Perry at [email protected]
 
  
Our goal at KEYTEX Energy is to save you money by getting you the absolute best price for electricity AND natural gas, while becoming your long term partner for all of your energy needs.

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