“As the demand is increasing to pre-pandemic levels, the supply isn’t keeping up with that,” said Patrick Antonen. Antonen is the City Administrator or Circle Pines and the Utilities Administrator for the Centennial Utilities non-profit. This is the only municipal gas organization in the metro area.
Antonen says customers may be better off with the Centennial Utilities over a for-profit utility, but even so, customers should be prepared to pay more.
“No matter what city you live in, they’re going up.”
To keep you bill as low as possible, here are some tips:
- Tune up your furnace
- Change the furnace filter monthly
- Check attic insulation
- Turn down the thermostat
- Turn down the water heater
- Make sure blinds and curtains are open during the day
And while some estimates say natural gas bills could be fifty percent higher, Antonen says it’s not that simple.
“It will all depend on the weather. If we get another polar vortex and prices continue to increase exponentially, it’s going to be a difficult winter.”
One thing is certain: the price of MMBtus (Metric Million British Thermal Units) is up. Way up. Antonen says that projected winter prices haven’t been as high in ten years
“I hope we have the mildest winter on record, then we’ll be fine,” said Antonen.
