Madison Wisconsin Heating bills are up 60% or more

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Heating bills are up 60% or more

By Mike Ivey December 29, 2000

Although the warnings have been going out since July about soaring natural gas prices, consumers are finally seeing for themselves.

With the first winter heating bills arriving over the past week, homeowners and apartment dwellers have discovered the grim reality: Costs to keep warm this winter are running at least 60 percent above last year and could go even higher.

"I live out in Mount Horeb and my bill right after my property tax bill ... talk about a double whammy,'' said Bryan Brosamle, a spokesman for Madison Gas and Electric Co.

December is shaping up as the coldest month since MGE began keeping records in 1930. Madison hasn't seen temperatures above freezing since Dec. 2.

Those cold temperatures, coupled with soaring prices for natural gas at the wellhead, are sending heating bills to their highest levels ever.

And Wisconsinites, spoiled by recent mild winters, are now getting hit hard, as natural gas prices are pushed higher because of the increased demand nationwide for heating fuel. The only relief might come from a January thaw.

Still, Brosamle emphasized the utilities don't make more money during cold weather. "We don't take a profit on the cost of gas,'' he said.

Alliant residential customers are seeing average bills of $128 for December. Last year, they would have paid $74 for the same amount of energy.

Prices are expected to go even higher next month, according to Alliant spokesman Dan Presser. The average Alliant residential customer will pay an estimated $164 for natural gas heat in January.

"I wouldn't say customers are panicking but we have been getting a fair amount of calls from people asking what is going on,'' said Presser.

For those trying to reduce their heat bill, Presser recommends dialing the thermostat down and taking simple energy saving measures such as putting plastic over the windows, caulking cracks around windows and putting weather strips on doors.

"It's not too late,'' said Presser. "Spending $50 on an weatherization kit can save you $150 in heating costs.''

The higher natural gas prices may also lead to higher electric bills. More power plants are being fueled by natural gas, which is driving generation costs higher.

Alliant has applied to the Public Service Commission for a 10.2 percent electric rate increase. That increase would add another $4.40 to the average residential electric bill.

Meanwhile, social service workers across Wisconsin are dealing with a deluge of applicants for Low Income Home Energy Assistance as frigid weather and skyrocketing fuel prices slam the state.

The program, funded by a federal grant, pays portions of heating bills for people at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

The number of applicants statewide has increased from 37,000 by December 1999 to 46,000 so far this year, a rise of 25 percent, said John Marx, state Division of Energy administrator.

The average residential heating customer who paid $567 for the six months between November 1999 and last April can expect to pay about $875 this year, Wisconsin Gas Co. and Wisconsin Electric Power Co. officials said.

"It hits low income people faster and harder than others,'' Marx told the Associated Press. "And it's not something you can tell people to go without. You've got to stay warm. It's not a lifestyle choice.''

About 90,000 households participated in the assistance program last year, Marx said. This year the federal government has allotted Wisconsin $38.3 million, enough to cover 95,000 households, he said. President Clinton has also ordered an additional $14 million for the program in Wisconsin.

Pam Fields, a case manager with Dane County Energy Services, said she's booked with applicants through the end of January.

"It's important to anyone who can't afford to turn up the heat a few degrees,'' Fields said.

Utility officials blame soaring gas futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the latest increase in the gas-price prediction for the winter.

When prices were low, companies stopped drilling, said Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman with Wisconsin Energy Corp., the parent company of Wisconsin Electric and Wisconsin Gas, which supply electricity to one million customers around the state and gas to 940,000 more.

When prices rose, companies started drilling again, but it will take up to 18 months for new supplies to reach the market, she said.

The cost of gas makes up about 80-85 percent of customers' bills, McCarthy said, and utilities have no choice but to pass those costs on.

"For low income customers, obviously this will have a huge impact on them,'' she said. "We encourage customers to apply for assistance.''

Steve Hiniker of the non-profit Citizens Utility Board said the high gas prices mean "people on fixed incomes are going to have a terrible problem making ends meet.''

But the assistance program and the state's moratorium on cold-weather utility shutoffs should help keep people safe, he said.

"Fortunately, we're kind of leading the nation in these types of programs,'' he said.

For energy assistance, call 1-800-422-7128

Heating bills are up 60% or more

By Mike Ivey December 29, 2000

Although the warnings have been going out since July about soaring natural gas prices, consumers are finally seeing for themselves.

With the first winter heating bills arriving over the past week, homeowners and apartment dwellers have discovered the grim reality: Costs to keep warm this winter are running at least 60 percent above last year and could go even higher.

"I live out in Mount Horeb and my bill right after my property tax bill ... talk about a double whammy,'' said Bryan Brosamle, a spokesman for Madison Gas and Electric Co.

December is shaping up as the coldest month since MGE began keeping records in 1930. Madison hasn't seen temperatures above freezing since Dec. 2.

Those cold temperatures, coupled with soaring prices for natural gas at the wellhead, are sending heating bills to their highest levels ever.

And Wisconsinites, spoiled by recent mild winters, are now getting hit hard, as natural gas prices are pushed higher because of the increased demand nationwide for heating fuel. The only relief might come from a January thaw.

Still, Brosamle emphasized the utilities don't make more money during cold weather. "We don't take a profit on the cost of gas,'' he said.

Alliant residential customers are seeing average bills of $128 for December. Last year, they would have paid $74 for the same amount of energy.

Prices are expected to go even higher next month, according to Alliant spokesman Dan Presser. The average Alliant residential customer will pay an estimated $164 for natural gas heat in January.

"I wouldn't say customers are panicking but we have been getting a fair amount of calls from people asking what is going on,'' said Presser.

For those trying to reduce their heat bill, Presser recommends dialing the thermostat down and taking simple energy saving measures such as putting plastic over the windows, caulking cracks around windows and putting weather strips on doors.

"It's not too late,'' said Presser. "Spending $50 on an weatherization kit can save you $150 in heating costs.''

The higher natural gas prices may also lead to higher electric bills. More power plants are being fueled by natural gas, which is driving generation costs higher.

Alliant has applied to the Public Service Commission for a 10.2 percent electric rate increase. That increase would add another $4.40 to the average residential electric bill.

Meanwhile, social service workers across Wisconsin are dealing with a deluge of applicants for Low Income Home Energy Assistance as frigid weather and skyrocketing fuel prices slam the state.

The program, funded by a federal grant, pays portions of heating bills for people at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.

The number of applicants statewide has increased from 37,000 by December 1999 to 46,000 so far this year, a rise of 25 percent, said John Marx, state Division of Energy administrator.

The average residential heating customer who paid $567 for the six months between November 1999 and last April can expect to pay about $875 this year, Wisconsin Gas Co. and Wisconsin Electric Power Co. officials said.

"It hits low income people faster and harder than others,'' Marx told the Associated Press. "And it's not something you can tell people to go without. You've got to stay warm. It's not a lifestyle choice.''

About 90,000 households participated in the assistance program last year, Marx said. This year the federal government has allotted Wisconsin $38.3 million, enough to cover 95,000 households, he said. President Clinton has also ordered an additional $14 million for the program in Wisconsin.

Pam Fields, a case manager with Dane County Energy Services, said she's booked with applicants through the end of January.

"It's important to anyone who can't afford to turn up the heat a few degrees,'' Fields said.

Utility officials blame soaring gas futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the latest increase in the gas-price prediction for the winter.

When prices were low, companies stopped drilling, said Megan McCarthy, a spokeswoman with Wisconsin Energy Corp., the parent company of Wisconsin Electric and Wisconsin Gas, which supply electricity to one million customers around the state and gas to 940,000 more.

When prices rose, companies started drilling again, but it will take up to 18 months for new supplies to reach the market, she said.

The cost of gas makes up about 80-85 percent of customers' bills, McCarthy said, and utilities have no choice but to pass those costs on.

"For low income customers, obviously this will have a huge impact on them,'' she said. "We encourage customers to apply for assistance.''

Steve Hiniker of the non-profit Citizens Utility Board said the high gas prices mean "people on fixed incomes are going to have a terrible problem making ends meet.''

But the assistance program and the state's moratorium on cold-weather utility shutoffs should help keep people safe, he said.

"Fortunately, we're kind of leading the nation in these types of programs,'' he said.

For energy assistance, call 1-800-422-7128

http://www.thecapitaltimes.com/news/local/2000/12/29/heating_costs_122900.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 30, 2000


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