Soaring Gas Bills a Growing Concern for Local Residents

Local residents are being slammed by rising natural gas prices.

Some residents are seeing a 100% increase in their gas bills from December and January.

The West Coast has experienced higher demand for natural gas due to colder than normal temperatures. To make matters worse, supplies from Canada and the Rocky Mountains have significantly reduced and pipeline maintenance in West Texas continues.

Repairs on the pipeline could soon lower bills.

The California Public Utilities Commission will hold an En Banc virtual meeting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss the price increases.

“Yesterday with a heavy heart and curious mind I went to the Southern California Gas Company [SoCalGas] Pasadena office for clarification on my incredibly high $387.16 January gas bill. I was baffled by how this bill could be so high when I live alone in a small one-bedroom cottage with only a single wall heater, and I was out of town from December 19, 2022 through January 10, 2023,” said Pasadena resident Wilhelmina Robertson.

According to Robertson, a representative at the gas company told her that the cost for the gas that she used was $85.68. But the gas commodity fee amounted to a staggering $259.41.

The gas commodity is the cost of natural gas purchased by SoCalGas on behalf of its customers.

The increase is financially decimating some local seniors.

One local resident who lives alone said her $726 gas bill is 100% more than last month’s bill.

“I called the gas company twice and I was on hold for over an hour both times,” she said. “This increase wipes out my full social security check.”

According to a letter she wrote to her city Councilmember, her bill was approximately $80.00 in October, $124.00 in December. But in December her bill jumped to $332.00.

The resident asked Pasadena Now not to print her name.

Last month, Mayor Victor Gordo met with the Southern California Gas Company to discuss the impact of price increases on local residents late last month after sending a letter to the utility.

It is not known how much the City can do to help alleviate the increases.

According to KTLA Channel 5, SoCalGas does not set the price for natural gas. Instead, natural gas prices are determined by national and regional markets. SoCalGas buys natural gas in those markets on behalf of residential and small business customers, and the cost of buying that gas is billed to those customers with no markup, meaning SoCalGas does not profit from the movement of gas commodity prices.

Still the City is considering ways to help local residents.

Typically the gas company offers about $100 in assistance per family. The gas company also offers level pay, which helps average gas bills over the 12 month period and then reduces bills to the average payment.

To qualify for assistance residents must meet several requirements.

The City is considering placing staff at several locations to help local residents apply for these programs.

“With unprecedented cost of living increases due to inflation and the recent cold weather storms, the increase in natural gas prices is significantly affecting all residents in Southern California,” Gordo wrote in the Jan. 20 letter to Gillian Wright SVP and chief customer officer.