Aquila: Energy prices soaring

You’re right; your natural-gas bill for last month was about twice what it was a year ago.

That’s because December’s wholesale gas prices were double what they were a year ago. Chances are your bill for January will be just as high.

“A year ago, the wholesale price on natural gas was around $2.25 per 1,000 cubic feet. Today, it’s somewhere between $5.50 and $5.60,” said George Minter, spokesman for Aquila, the natural gas company that serves Lawrence.

From one month to the next, price increases — as well as reductions — are passed on to the company’s customers.

“We sell gas at the price we’re able to attain it — that’s the way we’re regulated,” Minter said.

The company’s “rate of return,” he says, is tied to how much gas its customers consume rather than how low or high the price is.

“We get the best price we can, and we pass that price on to our customers,” Minter said.

Still, December’s bills pale in comparison to two years ago when low reserves and record demand caused prices to skyrocket, triggering angry protests across the state.

“Back then, the wholesale price got up around $10 per thousand cubic feet,” Minter said.

Hoping to avoid another round of protests, Gene Merry, chairman of the state Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board, warned the state’s natural gas customers to be on the lookout for a spike in their bills.

“We are concerned that consumers are going to be shocked by their natural gas bills in the coming weeks,” Merry said.

David Springe of the Consumer Council for the Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board said some residents were already feeling the pinch because they increased their heat usage, unaware there was a price increase.

“A person on a fixed income doesn’t have the resources to absorb a high gas bill,” Springe said. “We’re worried that residential customers are going to be blindsided by their January bills.”

Lawrence Salvation Army social service director Paula Gilchrist said she was already taking six to eight applications per week from people seeking aid to pay utility bills.

“Even a $50 dollar increase on a utility bill when you’re budgeting that tightly is a major increase,” Gilchrist said.

In the past three weeks, Gilchrist said she has already approved $2,500 in assistance to 11 families.