EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Southern Californians may be stunned by high gas bills this January as SoCalGas warned consumers that prices will dramatically increase because of cold weather, pipeline constraints and high gas consumption.
SoCalGas told its customers a shrinking inventory has resulted in January bills that “are likely to be shockingly high.”
An unusual cold snap across the United States has caused natural gas prices to surge to more than double the rate between the months of December and January.
The company urged consumers to expect a 128% increase in gas bills this winter because of these changing market conditions.
“Inside the Issues” guest host Ariel Wesler spoke to Jamie Court, the president of Consumer Watchdog, about the sudden jump in natural gas prices.
Court explained that the problem is twofold: SoCalGas failed to prepare for a cold winter and more natural gas was exported to Europe after Russia cut off gas pipelines amid the war in Ukraine.
“The real problem here is Southern California Gas’ lack of planning. They didn’t plan, and they had to buy it on-the-spot market. And what’s really troubling is they’re buying it on-the-spot market from their parent company Sempra and its subsidiaries at twice the cost,” he argued.
The Consumer Watchdog president questioned whether SoCalGas may be purposefully under preparing in order to exploit consumers and make more money off of their parent company. He said his organization has called on California’s attorney general and the Los Angeles city attorney to investigate these incidents.
But while natural gas prices remain elevated this winter, Court said there are ways customers can manage the additional costs.
People can enroll in a utilities program called the Level Pay Plan, which calculates gas usage over a six-month period and allows consumers to pay a set bill each month. Southern Californians may pay less during the winter and more during the summer than their actual gas consumption, but the bills remain level.
SoCalGas recommends people lower their thermostats by 3 to 5 degrees to save up to 10% on heating bills. Customers can also start washing clothes in cold water and turn down the temperature on water heaters to further reduce costs.
Court predicted that natural gas prices in Southern California will begin to dip in February, but urged state and local officials to look into SoCalGas’ business practices in order to avoid future surges.
“I think we really need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. And we need that investigation to make sure that SoCalGas has better planning next year.”
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