Some natural gas analysts are predicting major price spikes again this winter. If correct (at least one of them correctly predicted last year's $10MBtu), large users of natural gas need to be thinking now about how to protect their budgets for the coming winter.
But when storage is too low, competition in the following winter for the last few decatherms causes prices to spike, with one week's gas price being double that of the prior week. Only when demand drops (due to a warm snap, economic slump, or plant shutdowns) does the price come down again.