(Photo by Magda Ehlers from Pexels)
Daily index pricing for natural gas has decreased suddenly to prices municipalities are more accustomed to, according the City of Winfield.
In a press release Saturday, City Manager Taggart Wall said the daily index pricing of the pipeline serving Winfield has retreated to less than $5 per MMBtu — the unit of measurement used to purchase natural gas.
“This is down from approx. $35.00/MMBtu the day prior and $428.00/MMBtu on 2/18,” Wall stated. “This price is not set by the pipelines, but rather unregulated marketers/suppliers.
“As temperatures rise, we expect the price to continue to normalize.”
In a letter to Winfield residents Thursday, Wall said energy use skyrocketed since extreme cold hit the region.
Starting Feb. 7, Cowley County experienced nearly a half-foot of snow in the southern regions of the county and high temperatures below freezing for 12 straight days. A majority of those days saw single-digit highs, subzero lows and wind chills anywhere from -15 to -35.
Because of the increased need for natural gas during that span, daily purchases of natural gas by the City increased and so did prices.
In a six days, Wall said the City accrued $10 million in natural gas costs. For comparison, Wall said the City typically spends $1.6 million on natural gas for an entire year.
Wall said that at this time, estimated costs to customers for six days of energy supply would be equal to approximately 25 times a normal natural gas billing.
Natural Gas Emergency Update
Supply:
The stability of the pipeline serving Winfield has been removed from an order that…Posted by City of Winfield, KS on Saturday, February 20, 2021
Friday morning, in a radio interview with KSOK, Wall, along with Winfield Mayor Greg Thompson, said the City is exploring if the extreme price spikes are due to price gouging.
“We brought in several attorneys — attorneys that have expertise in federal energy regulatory matters — and those folks immediately started working on this,” Wall said. “You know, we’re not here to make accusations, but it certainly doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to us that prices would go, in our case, 150 times the norm, and in many other cases well past that.”
Thompson said the long duration of the extreme temperatures and how widespread it was felt across the country makes Winfield’s crisis a shared one. He also echoed Wall in urging citizens to contact state representatives, senators and leaders in Congress.
“It’s just been a difficult time,” Thompson told KSOK. “It’s not like we’re alone in this issue, but we still have to figure out a way to deal with it.
“Right now our approach is to, basically, communicate everything we can. Make sure people understand what we have, what we’re faced with, while at the same time try and turn over every rock we (possibly can) to make something happen to alleviate some of the costs.”
In Saturday’s press release, Wall said Gov. Laura Kelly has reached out to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requesting investigations into the “unexplainable pricing, other regulatory issues and requesting financial relief for our customers.”
Wall said the City has also partnered together with 2,000 other municipal systems to demand answers and relief through their legislative/policy arm for public utilities, the American Public Gas Association and the American Public Power Association.
State and federal representatives for the Winfield area are:
State Rep. Cheryl Helmer (R): 316-650-2157
State Sen. Larry Alley (R): 785-296-7381
U.S. Rep. Ron Estes (R): 202-225-6216 (DC office) 316-262-8992 (Wichita office)
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R): 202-224-6521 (DC office) 316-269-9257 (Wichita office)
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R): 202-224-4774 (DC office)
