AVERAGE ENERGY PRICES IN THE WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE AREA: APRIL 2009 (PDF)

Washington-Baltimore area consumers paid more than the U.S. city average for utility (piped) gas (16.8 percent) and electricity (8.8 percent), but slightly less for gasoline (-1.1 percent) in April 2009 according to data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner noted that while local consumers paid less than average for electricity from 1999 to 2007, this trend has reversed after two years of larger-than-average increases. Electricity prices rose 41.7 percent in Washington-Baltimore compared to 10.6 percent nationwide since April 2007.

A therm—a measure of constant heating value—of utility (piped) gas, commonly referred to as natural gas, in the Washington-Baltimore area averaged $1.307 in April 2009. Locally, the cost of natural gas was 14.1 percent lower than last year but 43.6 percent higher since 1999. Nationwide, natural gas prices decreased 21.6 percent over the year to $1.119 per therm. Though the gap is smaller than it was in April 2000 when it peaked at 39.7 percent, local area consumers have consistently paid more for natural gas than the national average in April for the last 10 years. (See chart A.)

A kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity cost Washington-Baltimore area consumers $0.136 in April 2009, 10.6 percent higher than one year earlier. Nationwide, electricity prices averaged $0.125 in April 2009, up 5.9 percent from last year. From April 1999 to April 2007, Washington-Baltimore electricity prices were below the U.S. levels by an average of 16.2 percent. However, average electricity prices have been higher in the Washington-Baltimore area than the United States since 2008. (See chart B.)

Chart A. Average prices for utility (piped) gas, United States and Washington-Baltimore area, April 1999-2009

Chart B. Average prices for electricity, United States and Washington-Baltimore area, April 1999-2009

Gasoline cost $2.083 per gallon on average in the Washington-Baltimore area during the month of April 2009, down from $3.491 in April 2008. Gasoline prices have been historically subject to rapid fluctuations. The recent 40.3-percent over-the-year decline followed an 18.7-percent increase from April 2007 to April 2008. The local price changes mirrored those of the nation, where gasoline prices increased 20.0 percent from April 2007 to April 2008, then declined 39.6 percent over the last 12 months. Despite the recent decreases, the trend in gasoline prices over the last decade has been upward with local prices 84.3 percent higher than the April 1999 price of $1.130 and U.S. city average prices up 71.0 percent over that same time period.

Chart C. Average prices for gasoline, United States and Washington-Baltimore area, April 1999-2009

The Washington-Baltimore, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va., Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) includes the District of Columbia; Baltimore City and the counties of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, and Washington in Maryland; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Fairfax, Fauquier, King George, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren in Virginia; and the counties of Berkeley and Jefferson in West Virginia.

Additional information

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

For personal assistance or further information on the CPI data, as well as other Bureau data, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office at 215-597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. Information on the Consumer Price Index and other surveys and programs is available on our Web site at www.bls.gov/ro3/.

Technical Information

Average prices for electricity, utility (piped) gas, and gasoline are published monthly for the U.S. city average, the 4 regions, the 3 population size classes, 10 region/size-class cross-classifications, and the 14 largest local index areas. For electricity, average prices per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and per 500 kWh are published. For utility (piped) gas, average prices per therm, per 40 therms, and per 100 therms are published. For gasoline, the average price per gallon is published. Average prices for commonly available grades of gasoline are published as well as the average price across all grades.

Price quotes for 40 therms and 100 therms of utility (piped) gas and for 500 kWh of electricity are collected in sample outlets for use in the average price programs only. Since they are for specified consumption amounts, they are not used in the CPI. All other price quotes used for average price estimation are regular CPI data.

With the exception of the 40 therms, 100 therms, and 500 kWh price quotes, all eligible prices are converted to a price per normalized quantity. These prices are then used to estimate a price for a defined fixed quantity.