Gas prices to rise again in January

Gas prices to rise again in January

'Significant' increase expected, officials say

Dec. 14, 2000

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

A colder winter and an expected jump in natural-gas prices may spell trouble for consumers this year.

At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Cortez City Council, Greeley Gas Company officials announced that they expect a "significant increase" in natural-gas prices to hit on Jan. 1.

"We don’t think this is an isolated problem. Until production can match demand, the cost of natural gas is going to go higher," explained Karen Wilkes, Greeley’s manager of public affairs.

Wilkes said the company will file for a price increase with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Friday. Other than wellhead prices, the natural-gas industry is regulated, and Greeley Gas exists as a distribution, or pass-through, franchise to its customers.

"What Greeley Gas pays is what our customers pay," explained Wilkes. "Unfortunately, on Greeley Gas Company’s side, because we have nothing to do with the cost of the natural gas, there isn’t a whole lot we can do, other than offer budget billing, to get them to even it out during the year."

Wilkes said the price of natural gas rose in February, July and November, a total of nearly 14 percent overall. Customers currently pay 70 cents per 100 cubic feet billed. Consumers in southwest Colorado consume, on average, 67 hundred cubic feet of gas per month, and 111 in the cold winter months.

Greeley offers its customers budget billing, a program that averages the price of gas throughout the entire year. The company will also help low-income consumers apply for federal and state energy-assistance programs.

"We don’t want to hear stories of ‘I can pay my gas bill, or I can pay my prescriptions,’ " said Wilkes. Consumers use gas that Greeley has already bought and paid for, but when natural-gas prices rise on the market, Greeley then passes on those costs to consumers.

Greeley Gas distributes natural gas to almost 100,000 customers throughout Colorado and 113,000 customers in Kansas and a small portion of Missouri. As a part of Atmos Energy Corporation of Dallas, Texas, 1 million customers in 13 states receive natural gas through its operating divisions – Energas Company, Trans Louisiana Gas Company, United Cities Gas Company, Western Kentucky Gas Company and Greeley Gas Company.

The council on Tuesday unanimously approved granting a 10-year franchise to Greeley Gas.