The Old Farmer’s Almanac hit shelves late in August this year, and brought with it a prediction of another rough winter in 2016.

Though admittedly unscientific, the Old Farmer’s Almanac did manage to accurately predict last year’s rough winter for New England. Boston saw 65 inches of snowfall in February alone, causing huge spikes in the price of electricity that will likely continue to be felt into 2016 due to forward purchases made around that time.

For commercial and industrial electricity consumers, a bad winter means much more than just inconvenience. In the Northeast, electricity prices are directly tied to the weather. Natural gas piped into the region is used for heating residences as a first priority, which means that natural gas power plants have to compete for whatever is left over.

This supply constraint consistently creates high power prices from December to April for everyone in the Northeast, sometimes staggeringly so. If the early prices posted by Connecticut Light & Power are any indication, this winter will be no exception.

What customers need to pay attention to is the fact that utility prices to compare often lag months or years behind current market conditions. The benefits of a good fixed-rate contract may not appear until the year following a bad winter, when power purchases made a year ago actually begin to affect utility prices.

It is for this reason that it is necessary to be especially proactive in the Northeast markets. AGR Group works to provide you with all of the details to help create an energy strategy for your business for 2016 and beyond. Contact us today!