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NEW YORK (AP) -- Here's some news that should warm the hearts of those looking forward to winter heating bills.

Natural gas prices tumbled nearly 8 percent Thursday. That was after the government reported consumption has dropped so low that the U.S. is now storing more than at any other time on record. Gas suppliers already have cut rates in many parts of the country as stockpiles ballooned above the five-year average, and a continued drop in natural gas prices should convince others to cut prices as well.

The Energy Information Administration says that underground aquifers and caverns in the lower 48 states stored nearly 3.6
trillion cubic feet of natural gas last week, a record.

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