Beginning of Essay
Back in the middle of October, the price of natural-gas had risen because a gas company was forced to shut down a pipeline due to the need for repairs. This impending shortage led to the decrease in prices for other heating commodities, as well as larger profit ....

Middle of Essay
.... the quantity demanded for the three other energy commodities increase. The market system today functions on price. Consumers make their decision on what to buy by the price of their desired good. Naturally, consumers will choose the lower price of a commodity they wish to purchase. This is why consumers, wanting to heat their homes, chose to heat them with natural-gas's substitutes (crude oil, heating oil, or gasoline) rather than the natural-gas, the higher priced commodity. The commodity, energy, is something that people can not go without during the winter months. If their is a shortage, which means that consumers demand more than the a ....