COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (KRDO) – While millions of Texans were left without power during last week’s winter blast, Colorado Springs Utilities reported that everything was fine along the Front Range. Now, CSU is planning an emergency meeting on Wednesday because the cost of running generators last week had a major impact on the annual budget for natural gas.
According to a Colorado Springs Utilities spokesman, he told KRDO that CSU has already spent a good portion of its entire annual funding for natural gas for power generators.
Natalie Eckhart of CSU says that the extreme demand for electricity and natural gas from February 13 to 16 has resulted in an increase in natural gas prices. While CSU had been observing market prices of around $ 2.50 / Dekatherm, the price has skyrocketed to nearly $ 200 / Dekatherm.
At the special meeting of the finance committee, officials said that during a four-day period when natural gas prices soared, they spent about $ 95 million. Normally, it would be between $ 7-10 million.
But ultimately, the money for the rising cost must come from somewhere. Eckhart said: “At the moment, we are looking at alternatives on how we will proceed with passing on natural gas tariffs to our customers.”
CSU leaders discussed three options for how customers will pay for the increase. The first would increase the cost of natural gas for each customer by about $ 11.45 per month from April 2021 until the end of January 2023. The second would increase by $ 18.10 per month until April 2022. The third would increase $ 36.43 per month, but only until the end of the year. In total, customers would have to pay about $ 300 more for gas alone.
However, it was not only the costs of natural gas that increased, but also electricity. CSU also released cost estimates of how much customers will have to pay for the two rate increases. Option number one would add $ 48.47 to utility bills for residential customers starting in April and going through the end of the year. Option two, which appears to be preferred by most, would add $ 25.03 to each bill by the end of April 2022. Finally, option three would add $ 16.21 to each bill by the end of January 2023 This total amounts to around US $ 385.
The Colorado Springs City Council will decide which schedule to follow in March.
This news comes after Governor Jared Polis applauded an investigation by the Public Service Commission to understand public service planning. Polis said he thinks customers should have the option of reducing or giving up energy for a few hours “to avoid hundreds of dollars in extra utility costs”.
This is a developing story and we are working to get more information. Check back for updates.