Some Guy wrote:
When all taxes and other charges are factored in, I pay:

10.62 cents per kWh for electricity

50.46 cents per cubic meter (1.43 cents per cubic foot) for natural
gas.

These are in CDN dollars (which is irrelevant since I am quoting both
forms of energy with the same currency but in case you're interested
the conversion between USA/CAN is about 1.16 CDN per 1 USD).

Given the above costs, what will be a more economical hot water heater
- electric or gas? (This is assuming I buy a tank, not rent it from
my local utility, and this also is just looking at the monthly energy
consumption of the tank - not the initial cost to purchase and
install).

I assume that both types will be equal when it comes to insulation (or
rate of heat loss) but perhaps not identical when it comes to
potential for problems (since a gas heater needs a void or space
running through the center, which means it has a more complex
contruction, as a pressure-vessel there are more seams that can
ruputure or leak).

I notice that new electric hot water tanks are almost half the cost of
a similar-sized NG tank (ie advantage=electric on initial purchase
price). An electric tank is also more "controllable" - I can more
easily control it in terms of powering it for time-of-day and
day-of-week operation.

So I think conceptually that electric hot water tanks are a better way
to go. But for long-term energy usage assuming the costs quoted above
(or more importantly their ratio) holds into the future - which type
will be cheaper to run?

Your electric utility uses natural gas to generate electricty then charges
you for the privilege.

If you had to buy your NG at the green-grocer and bring it home in a paper
bag, NG would STILL be cheaper at heating water.