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2.2.06 Natural gas heating bills up about $100 from '04 Hard as it is to believe, heating bills could have been much worse this winter. Metropolitan Utilities District on Wednesday released figures projecting that the average homeowner will pay $525.85 for natural gas from October through February, excluding taxes and the utility's monthly service fee. That's up about $100 from last winter even though M.U.D. customers are using about 8 percent less gas this winter than last. So how can that be good news? In the fall, natural gas prices were breaking all sorts of records and no one knew what the weather would bring. M.U.D. projected that a worst-case scenario would see bills running 50 percent higher than the previous winter. This week's figures show that bills are running at half that level - about 24 percent ahead of last winter. Mari Matulka, spokeswoman for M.U.D., said warm weather, locally and nationally is the big reason prices haven't gotten as bad as feared. Demand for gas has been so low that national storage levels are running 22 percent above the five-year average for this time of year. Consumers got more relatively good news Wednesday when local utilities released their natural gas prices for the month of February. For the third month in a row, M.U.D.'s prices for gas fell. And prices for both M.U.D. and Aquila Inc. are at their lowest level since August. Aquila is eastern Nebraska's other major gas utility. Despite the downward trend, prices remain at record levels for February. This month's prices in the metro area are running about 26 to 27 percent higher than a year ago. On the other hand, they're not nearly as bad as they were earlier in the season, when prices peaked at 33 percent to 42 percent above current levels. Matulka cautioned that a cold February or March still could crimp consumers' wallets. And she asked that anyone having difficulty with bills seek help. Those needing assistance may call 211 to schedule an appointment for heat aid. |
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