Natural gas bills will fall outside of Springs
Homeowners living in towns and unincorporated areas outside Colorado Springs will pay about $11 less a month to heat their homes starting May 1.
It’s the second time in seven months that Aquila, the Kansas City, Mo., private utility that serves outlying areas of the Pikes Peak region, has cut gas costs.
Aquila residential customers who use a typical amount of gas during the coldest months would see their bills drop to $150.29 from $171.90, a savings of $21.61 a month, the company estimates. Over a year, the monthly savings would average $11.12.
Aquila also cut gas costs Oct. 1, which reduced monthly residential bills $36.37 a month in the winter and an average $18.47 over a year.
For commercial customers, the latest cut in gas costs will reduce heating bills an average $43.60 a month during the year, assuming typical gas usage.
The company is passing on to customers reductions in its cost of buying wholesale natural gas, said Al Butkus, Aquila’s communications vice president. A relatively mild winter across the nation and a lack of Hurricane Katrina-like disruptions in supply have kept gas prices down, he said.
Aquila serves about 36,000 customers in unincorporated Black Forest, north and northeast of Colorado Springs; the Tri- Lakes communities of Monument, Palmer Lake and Woodmoor north of the city; Fountain to the south; and Woodland Park, west of the Springs in Teller County. Aquila has another 26,000 gas customers elsewhere in Colorado.
Under state law, Aquila and other utilities are permitted to pass on their gas purchase costs directly to customers, whether they go up or down. The company files its proposed cost adjustment with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which reviews the request.
Typically, Aquila files for a single adjustment — either up or down — in the fall to reflect gas acquisition costs as it heads into the heating season. A second adjustment doesn’t happen very often, yet wholesale gas prices have continued to tumble.
Cuts in gas costs are an about-face for Aquila. The company increased heating bills each year from 2002-05 because of rising costs.
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