Rising natural gas prices are driving up the supply portion of electric and heating bills for NYSEG and RG&E customers this winter.
Utility officials say colder weather and higher demand are pushing costs higher, even though the companies don’t control supply prices.
“Cold weather increases energy demand, and when natural gas prices are high, that impact is felt directly on customers’ electric and gas bills,” said Pat Fox, senior director of New York energy services for Avangrid.
Most electricity generated in New York relies on natural gas. When gas prices rise, wholesale electricity prices rise with them, Fox said, calling it a nationwide issue.
The New York Independent System Operator recently pointed to natural gas as the biggest driver of wholesale electricity costs. Colder-than-expected weather increased heating demand and sped up withdrawals from national gas storage, tightening supply.
Those market pressures showed up in late January bills. On January 30, residential NYSEG customers who buy supply through NYISO paid about 15 cents per kilowatt-hour in the Eastern region and 12.2 cents in the Western region. RG&E customers paid about 12.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Those rates marked increases of more than 44 percent for NYSEG customers and nearly 36 percent for RG&E customers compared to the same date last year.
Customers can also choose to buy energy from an energy service company, which sets its own supply rate.
NYSEG and RG&E stressed that they do not profit from supply charges. The companies bill customers the market price with no markup and use hedging, when allowed, to smooth some price swings.
Both utilities encouraged customers to visit nyseg.com or rge.com to better understand their bills, manage energy use, and explore financial assistance and special programs.
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