Higher natural gas prices could be having an impact on your monthly bill

Almost a year later and we are still paying for that monumental winter storm that hit several states and pushed power and natural gas grids to their limit.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) –Almost a year later and we are still paying for that monumental winter storm that hit several states and pushed power and natural gas grids to their limit. The storm not only brought a lot of snow but many days of dangerously cold weather. Demand for heat was so high, there were chances of rolling black outs. It had companies like Black Hills Energy paying a lot to get gas to customers.

“That caused natural gas prices to spike across the country, which we saw during, during that event. So, we were able to secure gas for our customers during that event but it was at a much, much higher price than we had ever seen before,” Brandy Johnson with Black Hills Energy, said.

Due to that cost, customers of Black Hills will be seeing a charge on their bill, labeled as the polar vortex charge, until 2023, even if you didn’t live in Lincoln during the storm.

While it may be frustrating, the company says every customer is paying this fee to level the playing field and to keep the current fee charge as low as possible for everyone.

On top of that, customers may also be seeing an uptick in the monthly cost. The increase is not because of the polar vortex charge but due to the high cost of natural gas in general.

With the rising cost unavoidable due to the high price of gas, Black Hills Energy is offering budget billing. This spreads the cost of your bill out over 12 months. It will increase if your usage changes by more than 10% but is a good way to manage month to month.

Johnson says the biggest thing you can do to keep those bills as low as possible, is conserve where you can.