New England Gas Prices Hit Near-Record Discount

New England's natural gas prices have hit their second-largest discount to Henry Hub on record from April through July 2026, averaging 43 cents per million British thermal units below the national benchmark.

This near-record discount is due in part to abundant Appalachian and Canadian supply, which has pushed prices lower. The Appalachia Regional average hub price ran 77 cents/MMBtu below Henry Hub over the same period, a near-record spread.

Total natural gas consumption in New England from April through July 2026 came in 5% lower than during the same stretch in 2025, according to S&P Global Energy data. Power generation is typically one of the region's biggest gas consumers, and between April and July, natural gas-fired electricity generation fell by 1.1 billion kilowatt hours, a 6% decline compared with the same period in 2025.

Renewables filled part of that gap, with wind generation jumping 0.7 billion kilowatt hours, a 59% increase over the prior-year period, while utility-scale solar added another 0.2 billion kilowatt hours, up 29%. These forces moved in the same direction at the same time, producing a price outcome that hasn't shown up in more than two decades of data.