High costs for natural gas will cause heating bills to rise an estimated 34 percent this December for customers of Xcel Energy.
Typical residential heating bills will be $171 in December, not including electric service, compared to $127 last December.
Small-business heating bills for December are projected at $776 compared to $573 last December.
Xcel said the estimated increases stem from rising costs for natural gas. Natural gas prices had already more than doubled in the past year before Hurricane Katrina hit, disrupting gas production from the Gulf of Mexico and pushing prices to record highs.
Xcel passes natural-gas price changes to customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis, taking neither extra profits nor losses.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
