{"id":118463,"date":"2023-09-26T13:35:08","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T13:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogcamlodipine.com\/?p=118463"},"modified":"2023-09-26T13:35:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T13:35:08","slug":"xcel-energy-expects-heat-bills-to-be-35-lower-than-last-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogcamlodipine.com\/business\/xcel-energy-expects-heat-bills-to-be-35-lower-than-last-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Xcel Energy expects heat bills to be 35% lower than last winter"},"content":{"rendered":"
Xcel Energy’s winter forecast is for higher heating bills starting in October, but about 35% lower than last winter, when high natural gas prices and cold weather led to the doubling and tripling of some Coloradans’ monthly charges.<\/p>\n
Xcel customers will see an increase in gas bills heading into October due to rising fuel prices, the company said in a statement. The average residential monthly bill will be about 15% higher October through December.<\/p>\n
The average small business will pay roughly 16.7% more per month starting in October.<\/p>\n
If the temperatures are normal October through December, Xcel said the average residential natural gas bill is expected to be $85.82 per month, compared with $130.90 for the last three months of 2022.<\/p>\n
The average small business customer\u2019s monthly gas bill for October through December is expected to be about $356.50, compared with $564.57 for the same period in 2022, a decline of 37%.<\/p>\n
Xcel Energy said it has submitted its proposed quarterly fuel price adjustments to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The proposed adjustment for the fourth quarter is $4.71 per dekatherm, which measures the heating value of a specific volume of natural gas.<\/p>\n
The level in place Oct. 1, 2022, was $10.09 per dekatherm, Xcel said. The fuel costs, including the cost of wholesale natural gas, are passed through to customers without markup, according to the utility.<\/p>\n
The price of natural gas was $8.81 per million BTU in August 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. This August, the price was $2.58 per million BTU.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission held a hearing on the soaring natural gas prices. Typical gas bills paid by customers of Xcel and other Colorado utilities jumped about 75%, the PUC staff said. The biggest reason was the escalating wholesale price of natural gas.<\/p>\n
A joint special legislative committee formed in February to investigate why heating bills shot up so much and explore ways to blunt the impact of future price swings on customers. A bill approved by the committee and signed into law includes short- and long-term measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
Xcel has 1.5 million electric customers and 1.4 million natural gas customers in Colorado, with a lot of overlap between the two.<\/p>\n
Xcel offers customers energy-saving tips at xcelenergy.com\/tips and information on energy efficiency programs and options at xcelenergy.com\/programs_and_rebates.<\/p>\n
Utility customers can seek help with bills from the Colorado Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, which will start taking applications for assistance Nov. 1, and Energy Outreach Colorado.<\/p>\n