Now that you stoked up your furnace for freezing temperatures, take comfort in knowing that it will cost you a lot less this winter to turn up the heat.

        That's the word from Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. and Union Light, Heat and Power Co. CG&E customers can expect natural gas bills 30 percent lower than last winter's. In Kentucky, ULH&P's bills will fall 18 percent.

        L.C. Randolph, vice president of gas operations for the Cinergy-owned utilities, said high gas prices last year led to more drilling of gas wells and, consequently, greater supplies.

        “At the same time as the availability of natural gas was increasing, the economic downturn has reduced the demand for natural gas,” Mr. Randolph said. “The result has been a decrease in gas prices on the wholesale market since last winter.”

        CG&E said the bill of a typical residential customer using 25,000 cubic feet of gas per month from December through February will fall from $246.66 a year ago to $172.16. ULH&P customers' bills will fall from $260.80 a month last year to $213.70.

        “We're very, very glad,” said Melinda Voris, social services director for the Salvation Army in Cincinnati, which runs emergency shel ters in Over-the-Rhine and Clermont County.

        “It'll stretch our dollars a lot,” she said.

        “It'll be great for our clients, who can barely make it through the best of times. A third less utility bill will be a huge blessing for them.”

        Cinergy said it can't profit from swings in the price of natural gas. Gas costs are passed on to consumers under a fuel cost-recovery system required by state laws.

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