In Case You Missed It ...
Jul 18, 2008 5:58 pm US/Central
Natural Gas Rates Rising In North Texas
Marianne Martinez, CBS 11 News
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
We all know the price of gasoline is high.
But you may not have noticed a spike in your natural gas bill.
The rate has doubled in the last couple of months--much to the surprise of some customers.
As a senior citizen on a fixed income, Randy Pauer keeps a close eye on his bills.
Recently , he noticed the rate on his
Atmos Energy bill had doubled.
In March, it was about $7.25 per unit of natural gas.
Now, it's little over $14.
"On top of huge electricity bills, gasoline and the price of food," Pauer said, "There will come a time where we'll run out of money."
Pauer says his last bill was about $40-- just to run his gas clothes dryer and gas water heater.
A spokesman for Atmos says the company does not make a profit from raising the rates.
And because they're based on market price, the increases don't have to be approved by regulators.
"We do not mark up the price of natural gas at all," said Atmos spokesman Rand LaVonn.
"We pass it on to our customers to recover what we've already paid for it."
Atmos says the higher cost of natural gas is due to higher demand from power plants and the hurricane season.
Pauer says he wants to warn others before they see sticker shock.
"When winter rolls around, they'll really be paying attention."
Atmos says customers can avoid seeing spikes in their bills by signing up for budget billing.
That allows them to average out their monthly bills based on their yearly usage.
Power plants, commercial buildings and residential customers all pay different rates for natural gas.
The U.S. Department of Energy tracks all of them and has historic data back to 1973.
Click here to see it.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
RAW VIDEO: 100-Mile Police Chase
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
