Where are ‘they’ on the downside?

Are “they” at it again? The “they” are speculators, who received much of the blame for running oil prices up to $147 a barrel in July 2008. So who is to blame for the collapse in natural gas prices to $2.40 per thousand cubic feat and the U.S. Natural Gas exchange-traded fund (UNG) to near $9? That’s a drop of about 38% since the first of August and the lowest natural gas prices in more than seven years.

U.S. natural gas stocks are at record levels, no hurricanes are threatening production and supply in the Gulf, the economic recovery isn’t far enough along yet to increase the demand for energy . . . . Lots of reasons for low prices.

Now utility companies are telling me that my energy costs may be 25 percent lower this winter. So why isn’t anyone blaming the speculators or big energy companies now?