Bottlenecks in the nation's natural-gas pipeline system won't change the cost of home heating in the Roanoke area this winter, said John Williamson, president of Roanoke Gas and RGC Resources.

Essentially, a forecast Williamson offered earlier this year still holds. Bills are likely to be about $50 below last year for the average residential customer in December and January, he said.

In fact, crude-oil prices are the only reason natural gas in Roanoke isn't cheaper still.

Warm weather this season might have dropped winter heating prices even further were it not for oil, Williamson said.

"The only issues we've been tracking have been crude-oil prices. They've stayed pretty high, in the $60 range," Williamson said.

"There is some correlation between natural gas and fuel oil" for home heating, Williamson said, and when oil prices go up, it "tends to have some upward pressure for natural gas."

The net result of warm weather plus higher oil price is no change for Roanoke's natural gas customers, Williamson said.

-- Ray Reed