SoCalGas: High Bills May Come as a Shock in January (water heater, prices)

[Carpenter858]

Dec PG&E bill $411.31. A whopping $.365 per kWh, higher than all EU countries except for Denmark and Germany. Dec bill last year was $320.25 ($0.29 per kWh). We're on the EV plan and mainly charge after 11 pm. At this point, gas for the car is probably cheaper.

[Axxlrod]

My house runs on propane, so I'm used to paying high heating bills, but this month I am actually glad my home uses propane instead of nat gas.

[joosoon]

Off the top of my head, with our current plan, off-peak is around 44c/kWh vs. 54c/kWh on-peak. So you're still doing better than what SDGE would be offering.

[Thekdog]

Just last year the CPUC decided to leave Aliso Canyon 40% empty.

Safe to say we wouldn't have these prices if they allowed to store natural gas to its full capacity

[Thekdog]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

SoCalGas and other utilities have attributed the sudden and dramatic surge in prices to unusually cold winter weather in California and the Pacific Northwest, which boosted demand for heat, as well as supply and distribution constraints.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration pointed to reduced capacity because of pipeline maintenance in West Texas that lowered westbound natural gas flows. The EIA reported that Pacific region natural gas storage inventories in December were 30% below the five-year average.

Although colder winters do cause price hikes, “[natural] gas prices don’t just double overnight because things got a little colder than last year,” said Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog.

Court said prices are being pushed higher in part because of natural gas supply that has been shipped in the form of liquefied natural gas to Europe, which had been building stockpiles in the face of natural gas cutoffs from Russia since that country invaded Ukraine in February.

“This is about all the LNG we are exporting to Europe,” Court said. “They’re selling our natural gas to Europe because they get a higher price.” The resultant inventory shortages lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers, he said — and the companies can put on the squeeze because “consumers really need it.”

https://www.latimes.com/business/sto...as-prices-soar

While exports do raise prices, Henry Hub pricing is much lower.

California has banned fracking, making it dependent on imports. Then there were some pipeline outages bringing gas from Texas that helped cause the price spike.

In addition, political leadership refuses to use all available natural gas storage in California. There wouldn't be a shortage if they fully utilized Aliso Canyon

[done working]

Heck decades ago they made so cal gas reduce the capacity by half and seal off another one up there and the tree hungers have been trying to the marina del ray shut down too. Now you have to depend on texas to bail your butts out which is why i guess is the hubbub over going all electric - but again you need natural gas for the generators and peakers to run. Its only going to get worse thanks to your liberal politicians.

[CALGUY]

My bill normally runs around $60.00 a month during winter.
January's bill is $252.00
Got an email from the gas company today stating the bills would be higher for January, but no reasons given.

[CaliforniaGal]

Our gas bill for Dec was 290.00 and is projected to be 488.00 for January. Crazy. We are in LA County.

[moguldreamer]

And yet wholesale natural gas prices have been trending down:



https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/rngwhhdm.htm

[ccm123]

Our PG&E bill is roughly 25% higher than usual for the month of December. I am anticipating January will be higher also.
We have been turning on the gas furnace a lot as it has been a relatively cold winter.