Warm winter cut Utah gas demand about 25%; company says storage position remains strong
April 08, 2026 | Utah Public Service Commission, Utah Subcommittees, Commissions and Task Forces, Utah Legislative Branch, Utah
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At a technical conference, Steve Wall, a company presenter for Enbridge, summarized the 2025 2026 heating season and its effects on supply and demand. He said the Lower 48 entered winter with roughly 94% storage on Oct. 31, and that Utah experienced the warmest winter on record for December through February with an average temperature of 40.7'F.
"The total normal heating degree days was 4,632. The actual ended up being 3,442," Wall said, citing company analyses showing demand about 25% below normal and average sales demand of roughly 69,300 decatherms versus a normal of 92,800. He said that pattern reduced market purchases and shaped operational choices during the season.
Wall told the commission that, despite warm weather, the company kept a conservative design-day methodology: the design-day is based on an extreme daily mean of about minus-5'F, a one-in-20-year statistical event, and the company has not changed that design-day assumption yet. Other participants pressed the company on forecasting horizons; staff said they shortened their normalization window from 20 years to a 15-year average to reflect recent warming and lower average demand.
On pricing, the company showed how regional price volatility can spike (citations to Opal and northeast daily indices), but noted that storage and fixed-price contracts limited purchases during short cold events. The company reported adding one BCF of contracted capacity with Spire and said storage positions across their facilities (Spire, aquifers, Clay Basin) remain within or above the five-year bands going into injection season.
Why it matters: lower sales reduce near-term volumetric revenue, but the company described weather-normalization mechanisms and balancing accounts intended to reduce volatility in rate recovery. Regulators and commissioners used the presentation to press for clarity about the forecasting window, design-day assumptions and the implications for future rate cases.
The conference closed that portion by noting an IRP filing planned for mid-June and a final IRP presentation in July.
"The total normal heating degree days was 4,632. The actual ended up being 3,442," Wall said, citing company analyses showing demand about 25% below normal and average sales demand of roughly 69,300 decatherms versus a normal of 92,800. He said that pattern reduced market purchases and shaped operational choices during the season.
Wall told the commission that, despite warm weather, the company kept a conservative design-day methodology: the design-day is based on an extreme daily mean of about minus-5'F, a one-in-20-year statistical event, and the company has not changed that design-day assumption yet. Other participants pressed the company on forecasting horizons; staff said they shortened their normalization window from 20 years to a 15-year average to reflect recent warming and lower average demand.
On pricing, the company showed how regional price volatility can spike (citations to Opal and northeast daily indices), but noted that storage and fixed-price contracts limited purchases during short cold events. The company reported adding one BCF of contracted capacity with Spire and said storage positions across their facilities (Spire, aquifers, Clay Basin) remain within or above the five-year bands going into injection season.
Why it matters: lower sales reduce near-term volumetric revenue, but the company described weather-normalization mechanisms and balancing accounts intended to reduce volatility in rate recovery. Regulators and commissioners used the presentation to press for clarity about the forecasting window, design-day assumptions and the implications for future rate cases.
The conference closed that portion by noting an IRP filing planned for mid-June and a final IRP presentation in July.
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