A temporary fix could be on the way
California’s Public Utiliies Commission will meet next week to consider issuing climate credits earlier than usual to help offset the incredibly high natural gas bills.
By now you’ve probably experienced the sticker shock that came in the form of your natural gas bill for January. Many Southern California Gas Company customers saw a sharp increase in their bill, which in many cases, rose 50% or more compared to the prior month. Increased costs are the reason, according to the gas company. Clearly, those costs were passed on to the customer.
However, below normal temperatures, which led to higher demand and issues with pipelines in West Texas, as well as storage levels in the Pacific region are also to blame, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The pipeline, storage and cost issues seem likely, while the “below normal” temperatures reason seems more like an added excuse, rather than a fact. December was cold, but there have been colder months, it seems, where the price of natural gas didn’t skyrocket. But when you’re pulling out all the reasons to make your ridiculous charges seem valid, why not blame the weather, too?
A household in the Antelope Valley remained unoccupied for a week at the beginning of December, due to the residents being on travel. They left the thermostat set at 69 degrees. The bill for December, for usage from Nov. 23 to Dec. 22 was $237. The occupants were gone again the last week of December and hadn’t turned up the thermostat since they got home, but the bill
for January, for usage from Dec. 22 to Jan. 24 was $476.
One of the tips for reducing your bill is to turn down your thermostat. That clearly doesn’t work, but will ensure you’ll be cold, while trying to save money.
The sharp increase is something that some customers simply cannot afford, but don’t worry, help could be on the way. California’s Public
Utilities Commission will meet next week to consider issuing climate credits earlier than usual to help offset the incredibly high natural gas bills.
The credits come from money generated by auctioning emissions permits to companies that produce carbon pollution, including natural gas distributors and power plants. Some of the proceeds are also used by the state to fight climate change.
“The CPUC is set to consider getting the California Climate Credit of roughly $90 to $120 total on electric and gas bills as soon as possible, to PG&E, SDG&E, SCE and SoCal Gas customers,” CPUC spokesperson Christopher Chow told a TV news outlet. “Bear Valley, Liberty, PacifiCorp and Southwest Gas customers would receive an accelerated credit, too.”
Normally, the credits appear on utility bills in April and October, but if the commission approves the early release, they would likely appear later this month.
While there is no timeline on when the increased charges will end and the bills will return to “normal,” the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has asked the state of California to investigate the cause of the spike and develop a plan to avoid future spikes.
Meanwhile, customers are left with super-high bills that many can’t pay. Now they can only hope the climate credits are released later this month, to help offset those exorbitant costs.