NEW YORK - Its prices can swing widely, and there is concern about future supplies and consumers' ability to pay for them. But, for now, natural gas is where it's at in fuels for industry, electrical generation and home heating.

That's true even though, for a time this winter, it has been more expensive than heating oil. Natural gas is "the fuel of the present and the fuel of the future," said energy expert Matthew Cordaro, who was a senior vice president at the old Long Island Lighting Co. and is now associate dean of the college of management at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville.


Most new homes being built are heated with gas - 95 percent in the portions of KeySpan's territory where gas mains are installed. Natural gas is the dominant heating fuel almost everywhere in the country except the Northeast. Further, Cordaro says, most new electrical power generation plants burn natural gas because of its environmental benefits.

KeySpan has what Cordaro says is an aggressive program to add potential new gas customers by expanding infrastructure. KeySpan spokeswoman Diana Parisi said the company added 46,000 customers last year, although this year conversions from oil heat to gas are down.