Why Are the Costs of Fuel Converted to Costs Per Million BTUs?
In order to provide an ‘apples-to-apples’ comparison of fuel costs, their units of measurement must be the same. Natural gas, electricity, propane and fuel oil are all measured differently: cubic feet (cf) of natural gas; kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity; gallons of propane; and gallons (gal) of fuel oil. Therefore, the units of measurement must be expressed as BTUs (British Thermal Units), the universal measurement of expended energy, also known simply as “heat.” By showing all of the fuel costs for the same amount of BTUs, we have the apples-to-apples comparison of the different types of fuel.
