As we approach the winter months, near-term natural gas prices are moving
higher. Henry Hub spot prices increased nearly 5% since our last update, while
benchmark electricity prices were up less than 1% (figure 1). Although pricing for
the two commodities is highly correlated, power prices tend to lag natural gas
prices. New York saw the largest increase of the competitive electricity markets, up
over 5%, while prices in Illinois moved nearly 1% lower.