Many Wyoming residents have seen gas prices increase over the last few months due in large part to the severe natural gas market disruptions stemming from last winter’s cold weather event in February. 

As temperatures drop this fall and furnaces start to run, utility customers will use more gas and the increase in market natural gas prices will be more noticeable.  

“This is one of the things that we worried about when thinking about how to address the excess gas costs arising from the February weather event,” said Bryce Freeman, administrator of the Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate. “In effect, the recent increase in market natural gas prices, which we expect to persist throughout the coming heating season, will compound the earlier increase caused by the February weather event, a situation we hoped to avoid.”

Following historically low and stable market gas prices for most of the last decade, current market prices “will certainly have the potential to negatively impact customers this coming winter and we want customers to be aware of those potential impacts,” Freeman said.

The Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate has worked to mitigate the impact of these excessive costs on customers, primarily by spreading the recovery of these costs out over an extended collection period and ensuring that Wyoming utilities do not profit from the collection of those costs.

On the heels of last winter’s cold weather event, the office has observed rising prices in the natural gas market. Recent market natural gas prices have more than doubled from their lows of $2.65/MMbtu in January, to $5.69/MMbtu in October. 

“Many customers in Wyoming pay market prices for the natural gas commodity portion of their bills,” said Freeman. “These costs are simply passed on to customers in their bills without markup and with no profit to the utility.”

The best defense against higher natural gas prices is a strong offense, he said. Customers can reduce the impact of higher natural gas prices by adopting simple and inexpensive strategies to reduce the amount of natural gas that they use. For example, set your thermostat lower when you are away from home, and make sure exterior doors and windows are properly sealed.  

“Conservation will help customers save on their gas bills and make their homes and businesses more comfortable at the same time,” Freeman said.

Customers who have difficulty paying their bills should reach out to their utility company right away, he said.

“Utility companies are obligated under the rules of the Wyoming Public Service Commission to make payment arrangements with customers who are unable to pay their bills,” Freeman said.  

Payment plans allow customers to defer a portion of their bill to a later time, which can lessen the immediate burden of high bills.  

Further, several programs provide bill payment assistance, including the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP), Energy Share of Wyoming and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).

“These programs are available to help customers who would otherwise not be able to pay their bills, but they can only help if they know you need assistance, so please contact your utility as soon as you know you need assistance,” Freeman said.