Gas prices climb amid heat wave in U.S. - Yahoo! News

But there ain't no such thing as global warming.

Gas prices climb amid heat wave in U.S. - Yahoo! News:

NEW YORK - Natural gas prices rose Wednesday as scorching temperatures that baked states in the Northeast and the Midwest put pressure on the nation's electricity grids.

Crude oil and gasoline prices also rose sharply after a government report showed that U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell last week, and as a tropical storm gained strength in the Caribbean.

Air conditioners in the United States have been stretching the capacity of national electricity grids and driving up the price of natural gas, the lifeblood of many power plants. By midafternoon on Wednesday, Washington hit 98 degrees, New York 101 degrees, Boston 98 degrees, and Chicago 95 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
When electricity use rises above normal levels, natural gas is the main fuel that utility companies use to run the extra turbines to meet demand.

'You've got a national heat wave coast to coast, and natural gas is the fuel used for peaking electricity demand,' said Jim Owen, a spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, a Washington-based trade group.