Officials with the city of Winfield are asking natural gas customers to cut back on gas usage to help mitigate the impact of prices that have reached unprecedented levels.
City manager Taggart Wall, in a written release to the media, said there was no threat of running out of natural gas.
“The issue is with the pricing available to us in this market,” he said. “We need to do everything we can to reduce our exposure to these price swings.”
The city has also reached out to large-usage customers and asked them to take steps to reduce natural gas consumption. Extreme cold weather in the Midwest, and various problems for gas producers, has taxed pipelines and caused a price spike, Wall said.
Winfield’s gas supply portfolio consists of fixed pricing, monthly index and daily index supply.
“We appreciate our partners in the community who have taken steps to assist in this effort,” Wall said.
City officials are also asking all customers to implement the following steps when possible during this significant cold weather situation:
Set thermostats to 68 degrees or less
Wear layers when inside
Use as little hot water as possible
Ensure all doors and windows remain shut (including overhead doors)
Take steps to seal windows and doors as needed.
As a community owned utility, we are all in this together, a statement from the city said. We are pursuing all possible avenues to deal with this extreme event (regulatory, legislative, legal) and will continue to provide updates as they develop.
