Natural Gas Rate Decrease

This year, we’ve passed along three rate decreases to our customers. Fuel commodity markets continue to be highly volatile both locally and internationally. However, the latest decrease in gas rates is possible because we’ve recovered all fuel costs associated with winter storm Uri that caused energy prices to spike nationwide in February 2021.

• Effective May 1, the residential sample bill will decrease $14.54/month. (The Utilities Board accepted the proposed changes on April 20. City Council approved the change on April 26). 
• The adjustment changes the current natural gas rate of $0.6928 per ccf to $0.4505 per ccf.
• This is in addition to the electric and gas cost adjustment decreases approved this January that resulted in a $14.91 decrease on the monthly sample residential bill, beginning in February.
• The next cost adjustment will be presented to Utilities Board June 15, with a July 1 effective date. This change to the cost adjustment cycle aligns us with other utilities on the Front Range and with our annual financial quarters.
  
  

Natural gas markets responded to the extreme weather of Uri with raising prices across the country due to restrictions in supply and increased demand. This meant that utilities who distribute natural gas to their customers paid extraordinarily high fuel costs and in turn, passed those costs on to their customers.

In our case, the storm caused $144 million in unexpected expenses, but this month we’ll have fully recovered those expenses. As a nonprofit, community-owned utility, we pass our costs (up or down) directly on to customers. The Utilities Board and Colorado Springs City Council acted swiftly and voted to recover the costs over a 14-month period. This helps ensure financial stability so we can continue to deliver safe and reliable services to our community.

The total impact on a sample residential bill (which represents a 12-month average) was about $29 per month. The collection period for this event ends April 30.

Because of ongoing supply and demand fundamentals, inflationary pressures, and the impacts of the war in Eastern Europe, fuel commodity markets continue to be highly volatile both locally and internationally. We continue to closely monitor these markets and we do what we can to protect our customers from fuel price increases. We benefit from natural gas pricing available through our long-term contracts, we use natural gas from storage and our propane air plant to stretch supplies. Despite our planning and mitigation efforts, we are still subject to natural gas market volatility like other gas buyers.

Your bill 

Your bill reflects your home or business’s electric and gas use - the more energy-efficient you are, the lower your bill. We have tools available to help you monitor your use and see how rate changes impact you: 

• My Business Usage is a new online tool which allows business customers to manage utility consumption data. 
• The bill calculator allows you to calculate how the new rates impact your bill. 
• My Account gives you 24-hour access to view your bill, enroll in account alerts and track your energy and water use. 
  
  

Customer assistance

Several programs are in place to help customers, including: 

• Flexible Payment Plans (one-time extensions and installment plans).
• Project COPE provides year-round assistance. 
• Home Efficiency Assistance Program (HEAP) is a partnership with the Energy Resource Center to provide energy and water efficiency improvements.
• Budget billing.