Anxiety among Oklahomans continues to grow about what their next natural gas bill might look like.
Oklahoma Natural Gas (ONG) has warned its customers to expect a higher than normal gas bill. This comes after record cold and snow infrastructure drove to a breaking point.
The Sanders thermostat in Edmond is being closely monitored. Warnings about high natural gas bills call for a second look.
“We are blessed to be able to continue,” Steve Sanders said. ‘I’m worried about it and not too scared about it. This is what it’s going to be. ”
Bottled water needs to be fixed for now, thanks to frozen pipes outside that leave the Sanders without water. Indoor heat is the only thing that prevents disasters and pipes bursting in their attic.
“I want to think that power companies might all be gracious and maybe put a limit on what normal monthly bills can be,” Sanders said.
ONG has refused an interview with News 9 to answer questions about what bills might look like or how the electricity industry is currently paying for natural gas distributed to customers.
NGOs stressed residents during a press conference Thursday to save to keep accounts under control.
“It’s important for customers to know that our company does not determine the price we pay for gas,” Kent Shortridge, vice president of NGOs, told Oklahoma City officials via Zoom. “We buy the gas from suppliers and deliver it to customers at home.”
According to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the rates on your next account will be the same as the previous month.
It is your use during this cold moment that you can take back the next billing cycle.
“State law is pretty straightforward, it says a utility can recover their fuel costs without profit,” said Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation commission. “The task of the commission is therefore initially to look at the costs and make sure that the utility industry does not make a profit from it.”
Only the Oklahoma Corporation Commission can review and approve tariff increases. None have been requested by utilities, but this is expected once the state of emergency is over.
Meanwhile, the Sanders family do nothing but wait and pray that their account is not as bad as expected.
“Just as they were not ready for this storm, neither were we,” Sanders said. “It will really hurt people financially, and maybe they can meet people at least halfway.”
This only applies to regulated utilities. The Enterprise Commission does not have jurisdiction over municipalities that operate their own gas and electrical services.