Lawmakers look for ways to prevent future natural gas price surges after winter spike

[April 22, 2021]  By Kevin Bessler

(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers want to prevent future natural gas price spikes similar what occurred during a cold snap in February.

Many Illinois communities dealt with skyrocketing bills, some shooting up over 7,000%. Several major Illinois utilities are also increasing residential natural gas prices this month, ranging from 35% to 70%, a lingering effect of the volatile winter that crippled the nation’s gas supply.

During a House Energy and Environment Committee subject matter hearing, Westfield Mayor Michael Weese said the price jumped in February from 88 cents a therm to $4.52 a therm.

“This has impacted this community and other communities drastically on the price manipulation we believe and took advantage of this cold spell we did have,” Weese said.

Mark Biel, of the Chemical Council of Illinois, said some of the towns affected can’t afford price spikes like that.

“When you get a $60 million bill when your average bill is $3 million, I mean, that’s your budget not just for one year, that’s almost two years worth of your budget,” said Biel.
 

Staci Wilson, director of government affairs for the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency, said part of the problem with the skyrocketing prices was the fact that the cold spell came during a holiday weekend.

“Since it was a four-day weekend, the market rule requires consolation lock-in on prices for a four-day period, meaning municipalities were locked into these higher prices for an additional day than what normally is the case,” Wilson said.

The Illinois Finance Authority created a $15 million energy loan program to assist towns facing a financial headache, and some communities will allow residents to pay their bills over the course of 12 months.

David Kolata, the executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, said an incident like this should remind people to conserve energy.

“The cheapest therm, the cheapest kilowatt hour is the one that you don’t have to use and there is certainly a lot more that can be done to protect consumers by investing in energy efficiency,” Kolata said.

State Rep. Michael Marron, R-Danville, brought the issue to the committee. He said people on fixed incomes can’t pay the enormous heating bills.

“It is pretty heartbreaking when you get a phone call from a panicked 80-year-old woman who has no idea how she’s going to pay these bills or put food on the table for the next month because she has this natural gas bill to heat her home that she was not expecting,” Marron said.