Heating costs on the rise
Butler residents may see higher utility bills heading into 2022 as some utilities increase prices due to supply changes and national price trends as colder weather approaches.
The Pennsylvania Utilities Commission said in a statement that changes in utility rates beginning in December could cause “potentially large winter energy cost increases in some areas.”
“To avoid the possibility of 'sticker shock' from high bills during the coming cold months, the PUC reminds residential and commercial customers that the start of winter is an important time to compare prices for electric generation, evaluate competitive supplier options and explore ways to conserve and save,” the statement read.
According to the statement, West Penn Power's rates are up from 5.447 cents to 5.698 cents per kWh (4.6%) beginning Dec. 1. The increase is modest compared to some other utilities in Eastern Pennsylvania, including Pike County Light & Power, which the statement said has raised rates up from 6.5234 cents to 9.796 cents per kWh (50.2%).
West Penn Power representative Todd Meyers said the increase is slight and that for the typical West Penn Power customer using 1,000 kWh per month, “the monthly bill would increase about 2% from $110.37 to $112.88.” He said increased usage during the winter weather also adds to the cost.
“The modest price to compare increase alone should do little to impact bills; rather usage can drive higher winter bills, with customers typically using more electricity for heat to stay comfortable,” Meyers wrote. “Our customers spend more time in the house in the winter than they did outdoors, meaning TVs, appliances and lights are consuming more electricity as well.”
Not all utilities are projected to increase costs. Lisa Hoover, director of member services at Central Electric Cooperative, said the nonprofit utility has not budgeted any rate increases.
“We've noticed that that is a trend, but as far as our budgeting is concerned, which will be approved in a couple weeks, we do not have a rate increase planned for that budget for 2022,” she said. “We're really happy that that's the situation because we do know that many of the other places are increasing energy prices this year.”
Hoover credits Central Electric's status as a nonprofit as “key” to helping avoid the price hikes, but said that members have already been asking about whether prices will rise.“Members are asking us,” she said. “Not a lot at this point, but there have been some who reached out and asked if we were planning on a rate increase. Barring any out-of-the-ordinary extenuating circumstance, we don't plan on doing it in 2022.”Propane and natural gasJoe Greco, owner of Greco Propane, which serves customers in a number of Western Pennsylvania counties including Butler, said propane prices are also rising.“There has been an impact as far as the price increases relative to last year,” Greco said. “The cost of propane has increased substantially. Propane is made from natural gas, and the price of natural gas has gone up. It's a byproduct of natural gas, and if natural gas goes up, propane goes up with it.”Greco said that in recent years, prices have been low because of an abundance of natural gas being produced in the United States. Prices usually go up in the winter because of the demand, he said, but this increase is more than usual.“The price has gone up in the last month,” he said. “It's stabilized a little bit right now because of the warm weather. If we have a long stretch of cold weather, it creates a problem. The price will go up.”Predicting the price of propane, he said, is a tricky job.“There are too many factors involved to make a prediction,” Greco said. “The weather, the availability of tankers, trucking, the source of the propane, if there's a shutdown of any facilities, a lot of factors go into it. It's not (easily predictable).”Lower prices on source natural gas are good for the propane business, he explained.“We like the price to be as low as possible of the source gas,” he said. “That helps our customers, and makes propane a viable source for heat.”Adjustments with natural gasBarry Kukovich, company spokesman for Peoples Natural Gas, said the situation is not yet a crisis.“The price of natural gas has been going up in the recent past,” he said. “I can't say we're overly concerned about it right now because we do have those quarterly adjustments.”The commodity rate for gas is adjusted every three months, he explained, and it will next be adjusted at the end of December.“The important thing is that the overall trend, natural gas has been going down,” he said. “Our customers now are paying about half of what they paid 10 to 15 years ago.”Kukovich said this summer's hot periods saw a lot of natural gas being used to power air conditioning, which reduced supply.“Now if it gets cold, and November has been a cooler month than normal, the demand really goes up,” he said. “So you have a lot of people purchasing, but hopefully that will even out, so we'll continue with that trend.”Kukovich advised Peoples gas customers to consider using a “budget plan” that allows them to pay the same commodity rate year-round for their natural gas.“If you don't have that, and you're paying a very low cost for the commodity in the summertime, and then in wintertime when it's 20 (degrees) below for a couple weeks, that's where people see the cost,” he said.Upgrades helpfulJerry Kennihan of Kennihan Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning said costs for oil and propane have had an impact on his customers.“Oil has jumped up significantly, and so has propane. A lot of people are getting a little shocked when they go to refill those tanks,” he said.Kennihan said that switching to more efficient heating systems, such as adding an inverter heat pump on top of an oil furnace to create a hybrid system, can help save costs.“There's quite a few things that people can do now when it comes time to upgrade equipment to knock down that pricing,” he said. “People didn't worry about it when the energy wasn't costing them a lot — when it's costing them 80 bucks a month ... people say, 'What do I care?' But then when it goes up to $200, they might be looking at (upgrading).”Increased need for helpAs prices are projected to increase, impacts are likely to hit lower-income people and people who became unemployed during the pandemic hardest.“We're looking at some folks who have had no income for 18 months and who have not been able to make any payments toward it,” said Hayley Merchant, utilities director at the Butler County Center for Community Resources. “They are (often) new to relying on assistance, so I'm sure they don't know where to turn to.”During the pandemic, Merchant said, requests for aid at the center were actually down from the average of 4,000 households aided in a regular year because of an extended utility shutoff moratorium. Heading into 2022, however, she expects more people than ever to end up reaching out.“I feel like it's unique to COVID times,” she said. “We always see an increase in need around the winter months, but this time around it's bigger. It's going to be bigger than last year, and probably one of the biggest yet. Compared to this month three years ago, it's probably 25% to 30% higher.”Merchant recommended that those in need of assistance with their utility bills reach out to the center as soon as possible when they realize there is a problem.“I would say the minute that they are not able to pay their bill, they need to give us a call,” she said. “We can get them connected to the customer assistance program, or a budget plan. It's easier to work before a shutoff notice. There are steps before a shutoff notice that we can take, so that they don't have to come up with exorbitant amounts of money to keep their stuff on.”Impact on seniorsBeth Herold of the Area Agency on Aging said the rising costs of living in other areas make the situation more concerning for elderly residents of Butler County.“I think it's potentially more severe in that there are other things where the cost is going up, not just utilities,” she said. “The gas for their cars is going up, food is going up, everything is going up. It's not just one aspect of your budget. And when you're on a fixed income, that's pretty difficult.”Herold said that requests for help haven't increased yet related to utility costs, but the agency is expecting an increase as the winter goes on.“With the utility costs just recently rising, we haven't experienced a lot of phone calls yet, but we are anticipating that in the coming months, we potentially will get more calls,” she said.“We work closely with the Butler Emergency Relief Initiative, where we work with getting them assistance to paying utility bills, or looking at ways we can help lower the cost of their utility bills, such as getting them onto SNAP benefits or lowering a cost in another area if one area is going up.”
