Utility customers in other states also are grousing about their utility bills.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently wrote an op-ed column in which he asserted it is “unfair and costly to consumers to allow gas companies to get away with not providing basic transparency and safety information to consumers and regulators.”
Customers of Spire Energy in Kansas City, Missouri, complained about their gas bills in December. The utility company blamed the price hike on the cost that Spire had to pay for natural gas purchased from wholesale suppliers.
In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis directed that state’s Public Utilities Commission and the Colorado Energy Office to immediately take steps to ease natural gas and energy costs for Colorado residents. He sent an eight-page letter to state regulators and leaders of the state’s utility companies and cooperatives, asking for collaboration in reducing energy costs.
Xcel Energy-Colorado warned its customers to expect increases in natural gas and electricity. The warning occurred as Xcel Energy submitted its quarterly fuel price adjustments.
Southern California Gas Co. warned its customers in early January that their utility bills that month would be dramatically higher because of regional and national wholesale prices for natural gas.
In response, the California Public Utilities Commission announced last Thursday that it began an investigation into why natural gas prices spiked on wholesale markets in December 2022, driving up customer utility bills.
For example, the daily natural gas spot price at Pacific Gas & Electric Citygate on Dec. 21 jumped 125%. Data the California Energy Commission presented during a public hearing Feb. 7 showed that natural gas prices for delivery on Dec. 22, 2022, were nearly seven times higher compared to the same day in 2021.
Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to investigate any “market manipulation, anticompetitive behavior, or other anomalous activities” that caused the inflated prices.
The FERC replied that it is “conducting surveillance to determine whether any market participants engaged in behavior that contributed to, or took advantage of, the high gas prices.”