The recent rally in natural-gas prices raised an alarm among consumers suffering from a cold snap in much of the U.S. this week — but when it comes to household spending on the heating fuel this winter season,

U.S. natural gas futures jumped to their biggest gain of the new year, as strong weather-driven demand is now seen extending well beyond mid-January. Freezing weather and snow storms across the U.S. could cause massive power outages and boost natural gas demand to its highest levels of the winter,

The US is bracing for a surge in natural gas demand as freezing weather and snowstorms threaten to cause widespread power outages, reported Reuters, citing energy analysts and reliability coordinators.