Interruptable Gas Contracts
Years ago, when I worked for Adelphi University in Garden City, NY, our central heating plant was a dual fuel system, natural gas, or fuel oil (at that time, number 6, later changed to number 2 - the same as your oil burner - primarily for environmental reasons) Because of the interruptable contract, we paid a very low price for the gas and burned it the majority of the time. But, whenever there was a cold snap or other problem with the gas supply we got a phone call from (then) LILCO, and had to stop using the gas within a few hours. That way they had enough gas when demand was high for their other customers, but were able to contract with their suppliers for greater constant amounts of gas, for a lower price for all their customers. We even used the gas fired boilers to generate steam for our absorption air conditioning chillers in the summer, less expensive than electricity.
I believe these interruptable contracts are quite common, and typically lower energy costs for everyone when averaged out over a year.
Basically, it is hard to store gas, you have to have someone to use it all the time. Yes, you can shut off wells, but not quickly. and starting them again is difficult.
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