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Natural gas prices will jump in August
07/08/2014 3:26 PM by John M
The July 3-5 issue of the Richmond Free Press has word of an increase in natural gas costs starting next month:
“Effective with the August bills, customers can expect to see a 25 to 30 percent increase in the amount charged for natural gas, according to Robert Steidel, director of Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities.”
The body of an email yesterday from Mark McClain of DPU via Sam Patterson:
“Sam: Please let me know if the following clarifies the question from….Monthly billing for gas is made up of three components: (1) a monthly service charge, (2) a monthly distribution charge, and (3) the cost of gas that DPU buys from our suppliers. The monthly service charge and the distribution charge cover DPU’s costs of maintaining our infrastructure and distributing gas to our customers. The cost of these services increased 3% effective July 1, 2014. The cost of gas represents the amount that DPU pays our suppliers for natural gas. DPU passes this cost through to customers with no adders or profit. The cost of our gas needs to increase 21% effective August 1, 2014 to pay for increases that DPU is being billed by our suppliers. This is the first change in the cost of gas that DPU bills its customers since April 2012.”
Are you kidding me, 30%?? This is like gasoline prices rising from $3.50 to $4.55. This is F ING nutz. Seriously are they trying to stray people from moving from the city???
How have they been so off number wise that they need to raise the percentage 24% in 2 months? I smell corruption… And they strategically do it in the summer when gas prices are low, only to slam you hard in the fall saying, oh the prices have been like this for several months.
I think the hike in 2012 was only 7% then, not the proposed up to 30%… that is ridiculous!
Why are we getting so many different numbers on the gas increase? does anyone in the city know what they are talking about?
From the DPU site:
http://www.richmondgov.com/PublicUtilities/
It says: “Following this adjustment, the typical total monthly residential bill will be a seasonal monthly amount of $41.88 compared to the current monthly bill of $34.63.”
1. who’s seasonal monthly gas bill is $34.63? This is vert misleading.
2. $41.88/34.63=1.21. Which would be a 21% increase.
So is the increase 25-30%, 24%, 20% or 21%
Is there anyway we can see what the price they paid for gas was and what it is going up to? When the price drops, im SURE they will credit us back??
Sam, the percentage increase is not a set amount for everyone. As per Ann’s helpful post, there’s a fixed component to your gas bill and a variable component. Depending on how much you use, your increase will be higher as the variable portion is increasing at a higher rate. Theoretically if you use no gas, you’ll pay only 3% more.
And as much as people want to get up in arms about this increase, there is some merit to the city’s claim that gas prices from their suppliers are up. Check this chart and look at the increase from 2012’s low point:
http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/natural-gas/5-year/
If anything, we’ve been undercharged the last few years.
The math that the city has presented is extremely misleading. If you look at the PCG (purchased gas cost) component of the bill, you can quickly calculate that the PCG cost is being increased over 60%, from the current $0.50 to >$0.81!! Now, by law, the PCG is just supposed to represent a pass-through. But the Henry Hub spot price of natural gas in May was only $4.58 MMBTU, and it is continuing to decrease. That works out to $0.47 per CCF. Now, it admittedly costs a few more cents to move that gas up the transco pipeline — but bottom line: $0.81 per CCF is a screwjob.
Yep, SCREWJOB. We have to pay for that new stadium and the new landscaping somehow….. you know?