Discussion Question Week 4
Assume you’ve just been assigned to a project to determine the future demand for natural gas in a rapidly growing community where the population is expanding because of the influx of several large employers. The community is in a geographical area with four distinct seasons that are characterized by cold snowy winters and hot summers. The population in the community is mostly middle class with larger than average families. There is an existing utilities structure with adequate supplies of natural gas as well as other competing energy services. You can assume that all the factors of a general demand function as described in your text beginning on page 37 have been considered. 1. Describe five additional factors that you consider would be important for forecasting the demand for natural gas over the next decade. (Keep in mind the data must be quantifiable, you will have to identify a process for collecting the information over an appropriate time period, and the data must be relevant as a factor in accurately determining the demand for natural gas.)
General demand function as we learned in Chapter two is; (T+M 10th edition) Qd = f (P, M, PR, T, Pe, N)
Qd =Quantity demanded
P = price of the good or service
M=consumer income
PR= price of related good
T=tastes or preference patterns of consumers
Pe=expected price of the product in future periods
N=number of consumers in the market

In order to evaluate the data appropriately I would suggest removing the “T” from the demand equation as it would be very difficult to quantity this parameter. In order to obtain some of the statistical data required I would rely on the following; local statistics for household utilities, stats Canada – census, natural gas projected prices and historical pricing,

Areas of influence are; 1. Population Growth and Immigration
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