CIRCLE PINES – (March 25, 2021) – Centennial Utilities is trying to ease the pain on natural gas customers after an unprecedented spike in gas prices in February. Officials say a typical February bill for a homeowner is about $100. This February, that could go as high as $270. To make it easier on customers’ budgets, the Centennial Utilities Commission decided to spread out some of the additional cost over the next six months.
“What the utility commission is going to do is take two thirds of that increase starting in April over six equal installments which there will be no interest, no penalties, no late fees, nothing associated with that increased cost,” said Circle Pines City Administrator Patrick Antonen at a recent City Council meeting. “It will be split over the next six months so people have more time to pay off that sizeable increase in natural gas pricing.”
Antonen said the price spike is a once in a lifetime event. He pointed out the increase for Centennial Utility customers is actually lower than other utilities like Xcel and CenterPoint. Centennial Utilities has about 3,200 residential and 200 commercial customers.
Two things happened simultaneously. Natural gas production fields in Texas froze so gas could not be extracted, and more was being used to produce electricity to keep up with demand for heat.
CenterPoint Energy says the cold weather added another $500 million in energy costs for its gas customers. The company is asking the Public Utilities Commission to allow it to spread that cost out over two years, starting with gas bills in May. There may also be a separate rate for lower income families.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission says the unexpected spike in natural gas raises questions about the impacts to customers and gas supply planning. The P.U.C has launched an investigation into the impact of February’s severe weather. The commission says the cost of natural gas between February 12 and February 17 reached levels that were at least fifty times higher than average.
