Black Hills Energy asks regulators for OK to bump up natural gas prices

Homeowners who live outside Colorado Springs will pay less to heat their homes this winter, although their heating bills won’t be as low as first forecast.

South Dakota-based Black Hills Energy notified the Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Monday that it needs to bump up natural gas costs paid by its Colorado customers starting Oct. 1.

State law permits Black Hills Energy and other utilities to pass on to customers their costs of buying gas, which sometimes means increases in gas bills and other times results in decreases.

Black Hills Energy serves about 68,400 natural gas customers in Colorado, including unincorporated Black Forest north and northeast of Colorado Springs; the Tri-Lakes communities of Monument, Palmer Lake, Woodmoor to the north; the city of Fountain to the south; and Woodland Park in Teller County.

Twice this year, Black Hills Energy passed on lower gas purchase costs. However, as part of an annual look back at actual gas prices it paid, and a look ahead to anticipated price changes, Black Hills now is forecasting rising gas costs next spring, said Black Hills spokesman Curt Floerchinger. The result: this winter’s heating bills for Black Hills customers still will be less than a year ago, although not quite as low because of the Oct. 1 increase.

Typical residential customers will pay $120.31 a month to heat their homes during the coldest times of the upcoming winter, down nearly $60 from $179.42 a year ago, Black Hills estimates. Without the Oct. 1 increase, those monthly bills would have been about $100, Floerchinger said.

Commercial customers, meanwhile, will pay $175.08  a month during the coldest months of the winter, down from $256.67 last year.