Natural gas bills to take bigger bite of budget Ohio regulators asked to endorse record rate

The Toledo Blaze
December 17, 2005
By Jon Chavez

Already reeling from higher bills than a year ago, Toledo-area customers of Columbia Gas of Ohio, and perhaps other natural gas suppliers, are certain to face a bigger sticker shock next month.

In its monthly filing yesterday with state regulators, the metro Toledo area's main natural gas utility proposed a January rate of $1.57 per 100 cubic feet - its highest rate ever and 59 percent higher than a year earlier.

Oregon resident Maria Schwarz, whose $197 bill received this month was nearly double what it was a year ago, was resigned to the prospect that her January bill likely will skyrocket.

"What can I do? I may have to put more clothes on," she said. "But I already keep [the thermostat] at 68 and I've shut down the registers upstairs."

The proposed rate, likely to take effect unless the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio objects in the next two weeks, is 28 cents higher than the current rate and three times the level charged four years ago.

Toledo resident Marie Viers also is frustrated. "We're at 68 degrees now," she said. "I cannot keep the thermostat really low. My husband is ill. He's on oxygen, and I need to keep it warm. What else can you do but pay the bill? I hate to even think what it will be."

She uses an alternate gas supplier but has a variable rate.

Her bill this month was $239, up $160 from last year.

Homeowners and renters have some options, including considering a switch to an alternative supplier, although all of them have much higher rates than a year ago for the same reasons Columbia Gas has boosted its fuel charge.

On the latest comparison chart compiled by the PUCO, five suppliers have fixed-rate plans, mostly of two and three-year durations, that have lower rates than the proposed Columbia Gas fee.

But a switch now wouldn't kick in until February, and there's a risk natural gas rates could decline months from now but the customer would be locked in for another year or two.

Many area residents have tried to hold down their heating bills by dialing down their thermostats, often setting them at 65 to 68 degrees, down from 70 to 72 that many people customarily did. Sales of sweaters, blankets, and space heaters have been brisk as people try to stay warm in a colder house.

Rates have jumped in Michigan, even though the natural gas in the northern state has traditionally had significantly lower rates than Columbia Gas.

A cold winter will drive up furnace usage and thus monthly heating bills as the natural-gas industry has been unable to boost inventories since the hurricanes.

"I fear if we have a colder winter, prices will have to be adjusted for that and prices can go even higher," said Jeffrey Mayer, chief executive of alternate supplier MX Energy Inc. of Annapolis Junction, Md.

But, he said, if the national economy falters and business demand for natural gas drops, prices for homeowners for the fuel could drop later in the winter, he said.

"Unfortunately, my crystal ball is no better than anyone else's."