November heating bills will more than double from October for residential customers of Xcel Energy – a consequence of colder weather and higher natural-gas prices.
Xcel, which has long forecast far higher bills this winter, filed a proposal Tuesday with state regulators to increase natural-gas prices by 11 percent in November.
That increase, combined with typically colder weather in November and more need for heat, will cause the typical residential heating bill for November to be $131, compared with October’s $64.
With additional charges for electricity, the total utility bill for an average residential customer will be $200 in November.
Xcel also has forecast that residential gas and electric bills in December will rise to an average of $240, compared with $180 last December. The 11 percent increase for November is included in the December cost estimate.
Businesses will also see price hikes.
Small-business natural-gas bills will average $628 in November, up from $324 in October. Electric bills will average $134, producing a combined November utility bill of $762.
The natural-gas price increase filed by Xcel is a direct pass-through to consumers, reflecting Xcel’s higher costs to purchase gas. The utility neither profits nor loses money from monthly changes in natural-gas prices. Xcel has filed five consecutive monthly price increases, during which its natural-gas prices have risen 58 percent.
Xcel also has filed with state regulators for a permanent increase of $34 million a year in natural-gas base rates. Unlike the monthly pass-through increases, the $34 million annual increase would go to Xcel.
The Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel said it will fight the annual increase in a regulatory hearing to begin Dec. 5.
Xcel said natural-gas prices have risen over the past month because of lost production of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In addition to tight supplies, prices also have risen because of higher demand with the onset of the winter heating season, Xcel said.
Natural-gas pass-through increases to Xcel customers were 16 percent in October and 7 percent in September.
The November hike will further diminish the ability of low-income households to pay their utility costs, officials said.
“This increase will leave low-income customers, the most vulnerable of any of us, with the inability to keep up. I’m afraid we’ll see a lot of people with no utility service this winter,” said Glenn Cooper, manager of Colorado’s Low Income Energy Assistance Program.
U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., is a co- sponsor of an amendment for an emergency appropriation of $3.1 billion to the federal program that funds low-income energy assistance across the country.
If the additional funds are added to the program’s normal budget of $2 billion, Cooper said, low-income residents in Colorado who qualify could see their one-time winter benefit increase from $300 to $450. Cooper said he is hoping for a similar bill in the Colorado legislative session in January.
Xcel said its program of purchasing natural gas at contracted prices and storing the gas for future use helped the utility shave costs by 11 percent compared with what they would have been if Xcel had paid current market prices for the gas.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
