Natural gas bills climbing more than was predicted PSC says consumers could see cost to heat homes double; supply, cold weather blamed

By Jeff Smith Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

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Heating bills for November could rise more than 100 percent over last year because of the recent cold snap and sky-high costs of natural gas, Public Service Company of Colorado warned this week.

"Increased usage of natural gas — coupled with the current high cost of natural gas — could push customers' heating bills ... to more than double what they were a year ago," said Cynthia Evans, the company's vice president for Colorado, Arizona and Wyoming.

That could mean an average residential bill of more than $100, based on last year's $57.19 average for the same period, according to PSC, now Xcel Energy.

In September, PSC warned that heating bills would be up to 40 percent higher because of higher natural gas prices.

Near-record cold has made that forecast seem modest. Colorado was headed toward one of its coldest Novembers on record until the weather began warming Monday.

Ken Reif, director of the Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel, praised PSC for warning consumers of impending utility bill shock. However, Reif said the situation also may call for re-evaluating the way consumers are charged.

PSC currently passes along to consumers the higher cost to buy natural gas on the open market. This year, that cost has totaled $243 million, based on two filings to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

Reif said other options should be considered such as capping the amount utilities can charge consumers and permitting utilities to lock in more long-term contracts.

Some analysts hope that increased drilling for gas eventually will result in lower prices.

Rich Greibling, director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said drilling activity in Colorado is up about 50 percent this year. Still, because natural gas has become the fuel choice for new generating capacity, gas prices likely will remain high, he said.

December futures for natural gas have topped $6 per million Btu (British thermal unit), compared with slightly less than $3 per million Btu late last year.

PSC is urging customers to conserve energy and consider switching to budget billing, which is designed to remove the wide variation of summer and winter bills by averaging the consumer's energy usage for the entire year.

Low income customers also are being encouraged to contact the Colorado Energy Assistance Foundation at (303) 825-8750 to see if they qualify for financial assistance.

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-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), November 22, 2000