Introduction

This year's report is the 62^nd annual Residential Natural Gas Market Survey conducted by the American Gas Association (AGA). The data collected for 2009 provide a unique and comprehensive portrait of the residential natural gas market. Detailed information is presented by state and region, including customers, market share, inventory additions from new homes, and conversions from alternative fuels. Company-specific data are reported in Appendices A, B and C. Appendix D presents natural gas market shares data for the metropolitan statistical areas.

A total of 72 natural gas utility companies responded to this year's survey. This is an increase from the 64 utilities that responded to last year's survey. Company-specific data were derived from the Energy Information Administration's Form 176 database.

Incorporated in the survey results are data regarding new private housing completions as well as existing homes from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The source of these data is different from the statistics compiled from the survey respondents and should be evaluated separately.

Our thanks go to those companies participating in this Residential Natural Gas Market Survey information-gathering effort. Their cooperation and support are essential to making this publication a primary source of natural gas utility industry data and an important industry reference.