Higher heating bills on the way (in Anchorage) -
OUCH! Many complain to Enstar; retirees' health becomes a big concern.
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By WESLEY LOY, Anchorage Daily News
Published: January 9, 2007
Last Modified: January 9, 2007 at 01:40 AM
If this cold snap has you reaching for the thermostat, think twice.
Beginning this month, the cost of natural gas on average this year is jumping 30 percent.
Most people will feel the pain when the bills arrive in mailboxes toward the end of the month, said Curtis Thayer, spokesman for Enstar Natural Gas Co.
For the average homeowner, the January bill will be $214.36, up $70.87 from a year ago, according to Enstar estimates.
For many residents, that could sting like a stiff breeze on a subzero day.
It has people like Pat Luby of the AARP worried. It'll be hard for many senior citizens to cover higher heating bills, and the alternative for some will be to turn down the thermostat -- even to the detriment of their health, said Luby, advocacy director for the AARP in Alaska.
And, unlike working people, seniors can't turn down the heat while away at work.
"The average retiree spends 90 percent of the time in their house," Luby said.
Thayer, speaking Monday at an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce luncheon, said Enstar is sympathetic to concerns about the rate increase, the latest in a series of sharp annual hikes the utility has imposed.
The reality, he said, is that the days of plentiful and cheap natural gas for Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula and Mat-Su are in the past. The known gas fields of Cook Inlet are depleting rapidly, and the market prices for oil and gas have been running at extraordinarily high levels in recent years.
Because the amount Enstar pays for natural gas is linked to these market prices, Enstar has to pay much more to secure gas to distribute to homes and businesses, Thayer said. And future supply contracts are likely to be more expensive.
People understandably are mad, with many already phoning Enstar to complain even though they haven't yet received the first bill reflecting this year's 30 percent rate hike, he said.
After they hear an explanation, "they're still not happy," Thayer said. "A lot of them just want to vent."
Despite the increases, Alaska gas prices remain substantially lower than any other region of the country, according to U.S. Department of Energy data Thayer cited.
Enstar encourages anyone who can't pay the higher bills to contact the company to work out an arrangement, he said.
"When it's 20 below, we're not going to shut a customer off because they can't pay their bill," Thayer said. "But we need to know who they are."
Enstar can help steer people to government and tribal programs that offer home-heating assistance, he said.
The state offers such help through the Division of Public Assistance, which can be reached at www.hss.state.ak.us/dpa/programs/hap.
Gas consumers can also smooth out their gas bills -- that is, avoid really big bills in winter months -- by using Enstar's "budget billing" program. This means averaging together 12 months of bills to get a steady monthly rate spread across the calendar.
For example, Enstar estimates the average homeowner this year will pay $214.36 in January, dropping to $67.22 in June. Using budget billing, homeowners can get a steady bill of about $128.07 every month through the year.
To meet demand, Enstar needs new supplies of natural gas after 2009. But its ideas for securing that gas recently have run afoul of state regulators. Enstar proposed a contract with Marathon Oil Corp. for a large supply of gas, with the deal tying the price to the Lower 48 gas market.
State regulators rejected that arrangement, which critics said would lead to higher costs for Alaska even though the state isn't connected to the Lower 48. Enstar argued the deal gives oil companies a financial incentive to drill for badly needed new supplies of Cook Inlet gas.
Enstar is renegotiating with Marathon and could submit a new deal to regulators in perhaps six months, Thayer said.
All Luby knows is, some Alaskans -- such as the elderly -- are going to struggle with higher gas rates. A recent survey of the AARP's Alaska membership found that nearly half had lowered the heat in their homes because of higher utility bills, and two in 10 said they'd cut back on items such as food or prescription drugs to pay. |
