Thor's Hammer
Wolfish. Sometimes Bites.
I was going to say the same, but then realized I have no idea how the costs compare in Butch's area. Here, it's just as you say Ed, though we have pretty cheap electric rates compared to many places.
In engineering terms, think of it like this - Its fairly likely that electricity has been generated by a Natural Gas powerplant. So they burn gas through a highly efficient turbine generator, which means 40 - 45% of the embedded energy comes out as electricity. Then you send that through your distribution system, where its likely to loose another 10 - 15%. Then you use a microwave or electric hob to heat up a pan of water, with all the efficiency losses of the item. Whereas with a gas hob (or even better a log or pellet fired stove) you burn the gas at maximum efficiency to create heat.
Its amazing how much non renewable resources are depleted unnecessarily just to boil water at the touch of a button.