Chicago Nicor gas bills set to rise 90 percent

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Nicor gas bills set to rise 90 percent

October 4, 2000

BY TAMMY WILLIAMSON BUSINESS REPORTER

Nicor Gas Co. customers will see their bills rise, on average, by about 90 percent between October and March, a larger gain than was estimated by city gas supplier Peoples Gas on Monday.

That's higher than what Nicor, which provides gas service to the south and western suburbs, had estimated in July, when it projected bills would rise 48 percent to an average of $610 for the winter months.

Nicor is inserting a flier in its October bills telling its customers that it expects the six-month cost will rise to $780, up from $410 last winter.

"This is something that's happening across the country," said Jane Wiedmeyer, spokeswoman for the Naperville utility. "Supply and demand are not keeping up with each other."

Peoples Gas, which serves city residents, on Monday predicted its customers' gas bills could rise 64 percent over what they paid last year, after predicting a 20 percent increase in July.

Nicor customers' October bills will rise to an estimated average of $68, compared with $46 last year, Wiedmeyer said.

Wiedmeyer said the three previous winters have been warmer than normal, and that reduced production of natural gas supplies. Now, scarce resources are in demand, and there are more users of natural gas than in previous years. For instance, some air conditioning units in Texas and California are powered at least partially by natural gas, she said.

"The good news is there is more drilling being done," though it will take a while to alleviate prices, Wiedmeyer said.

The gas companies are raising their prices because they are paying more for the fuel. "The local gas companies do not make any money selling natural gas," said Craig Schuttenberg, vice president of Energy Choices Inc., Highland Park. "It's complete pass-through" of their cost increases.

Wiedmeyer said Nicor purchases gas from "a lot of different suppliers" and said the company is "always working to get the best price."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/gas04.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 04, 2000

Answers

These increases seem to get larger day by day.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 04, 2000.

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