Like other gas providers across Texas, CenterPoint passed on to customers gas prices that...
CatLane/Getty Images/iStockphotoAllison Matney did a double take when she looked at her most recent gas bill from CenterPoint Energy. It had nearly doubled from the previous month.
But it wasn't anything she or other CenterPoint gas customers did differently. Rather, the company, like other gas providers across Texas, were passing on to customers gas prices that had skyrocketed during 2022. And the effects of those price hikes could be more noticeable as Texans with gas furnaces begin to crank up the heat during winter.
Texas gas producers were happy to fill the gap, and exports from the Gulf Coast skyrocketed, forcing U.S. consumers and utilities to compete with Europe for the commodity, said Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston. By May, the average cost of 1 million British thermal units of natural gas reached $8.14, a 180 percent jump from the $2.91 per million British thermal units a year earlier, according to the Energy Information Administration.
CPS Energy in San Antonio, which changes its gas adjustment rate monthly, in April began raising it to a high in October of 86 cents per hundred cubic feet. In December, CPS cut the rate to 72 cents, and this month it's about 56 cents — half the current rate assessed by CenterPoint.Charles"Chad" Hoopingarner, vice president of financial planning for CPS Energy, said calculating that rate takes a lot of estimating.
During a tumultuous 2022, CenterPoint's stuck with its strategy and changed its gas cost adjustment twice. Utilities that scrambled last year to deal with the sudden surge in European demand and resulting price hikes likely have a plan going forward, Hirs said. Production also has ramped up to meet that demand, he said, and Europeans stored larger quantities of the fuel ahead of winter, which has been mild thus far both on that continent and in the U.S.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Texas governor asks lawmakers to revise ankle monitor system following North Texas murdersThe governor is calling for changes to the state’s ankle monitor system because of two murder cases in North Texas involving parolees.
Read more »
84 election-related bills already filed for 2023 Texas legislative sessionThis legislative session already has more than 1,000 bills to consider, and dozens of them directly relate to how, where, and when we vote.
Read more »
Cooling economy could have a silver lining for North Texas' general contractors - Dallas Business JournalWith higher costs and a tight labor pool, a cooling economy might be just the thing general contractors need to correct a tough hiring environment in North Texas and beyond.
Read more »
For teens in Deep East Texas, accessing sex education and contraception is next to impossibleIn conservative Sabine County, it’s hard for teens to access contraception or sex education beyond lessons on abstinence. The Deep East Texas region has one of the highest teen birth rates in the state.
Read more »
A Texan's love of history once changed Texas A&M’s football recordsHe threw javelin for A&M, but the more important point Newt Lamb made was correcting history.
Read more »
North Texas Country Artist Isaac Hoskins Appears on YellowstoneIsaac Hoskins knew the gentleman in the crowd was important. Standing onstage at the Magnolia Motor Lounge in Fort Worth, Hoskins was playing another opening slot at a Friday night gig as he’d been doing for nearly two decades now.
Read more »