I'm in a new home partly heated (thanks to the gas company subsidizing installs) by natural gas, it's a fleece of the Monopoly power granted by my state. In th

I'm in a new home partly heated (thanks to the gas company subsidizing installs) by natural gas, it's a fleece of the Monopoly power granted by my state. In the southeast, my furnace is used 3 months a year, my highest bill is $50 in the last 12 months. But in ~9 months of 0 therm usage, the minimum bill is $30. (That's right, 3/5 of every home in my region is likely to overhead) But it's not just a fleece from the billing and the rate. Maintaining the infrastructure is supported by my property taxes and state income taxes (and the additional overhead of unneeded infrastructure in road maintenance, disasters, or simple things like utility marking. Then there are other fleeces involved that are strictly job creation. "De-regulation" where every year I have to play a game to get the best teaser rate to get the same gas (that might be traded differently) (when the state commissioner can require rates be a certain point in the market as they do of the - same company by the way - electric infrastructure.) So I have to pay with my time, and in many ways money, just to play this game. The heat is quick, the gas stove is slower than induction (I have a single induction unit I use most of the time), and the fireplace is comforting.