The high price of energy raises concerns about CPS ’upcoming energy bill

Saint Anthony – Energy may have been low this week for CPS customers, but it’s likely to end up being expensive as well.

Now that the electrical reliability crisis is over, CPS Energy CEO Paula Gold-Williams says affordability issues are raised due to high fuel costs during the cold. According to Gold-Williams, the company is still trying to calculate the cost of the event, but “it will be huge” and trying to minimize the impact on customers ’bills.

“I’ll say we understand that it would be unacceptable for customers to bear the cost of their monthly bill and as if someone could pay for it,” Gold-Williams said. “So we’re working diligently: the financial services team is working diligently, trying to figure out ways to really distribute that cost, maybe maybe you know 15, that is, ten years or more to try to make it affordable. We don’t fully evaluate it.” .

Announcements

Gold-Williams told reporters during a briefing Monday that supply and demand worked significantly during the cold that dropped many offline generating units across the state and froze natural gas wells. .

“We could see from the start of this event, even before Monday’s numbers, that the price of energy and energy supply raised prices,” Gold-Williams said. “Once again, I will mention that the natural gas I saw was up 7,000 percent, up 10,000 percent. I stopped counting 16,000 percent.

Part of your CPS bill is based on a “Fuel Adjustment Charge,” which covers the fuel costs associated with CPS generating power, the purchase of renewable energy, and purchases from the energy market. open. Therefore, the amount that CPS has to pay to provide you with energy will affect the amount you ultimately pay.

Typically, these fuel costs make you pay the bill for a period of 45 to 60 days, but CPS tries to find a way to distribute them longer.

Announcements

While the final effect of your bill is still unclear, CPS officials stressed that it has not disconnected customers since March.

The public team will have to use “a good chunk” of its cash to meet the immediate demands of paying for the fuel it had and also use part of its credit, Gold-Williams said. Ultimately, a bonus may be needed to help share the costs.

The plans will require a discussion with the CPS board, the city council and the response to community questions, the CPS general manager said, but estimated that they have between 60 and 120 days to resolve it, or that they could affect the purchasing power of the company. fuel on the market now.