ALBANY — Warnings last fall of double-digit utility bills sent shivers up the spine for a lot of Capital Region residents, but the actual sticker shock hasn’t come until recently.
Thanks to an unusually mild winter, gas and electric costs haven’t risen as much as initially feared, but that changed this month when customers received their latest National Grid utility bills that covered the near-record cold snap on Feb. 3 and 4 when temperatures dropped to a low of -13 degrees Fahrenheit.
The jump in utility bills reverberated on social media as well as in bank accounts, with some people reporting a near doubling of costs.
“It was kind of ridiculous,” Schenectady resident Don Rittner said of his $615 bill for gas and electricity. Normally it runs maybe $350 in winter, he said.
A local historian, Rittner has a large Facebook following and his comment on the social media site drew lots of commiseration and agreement from ratepayers.
One commenter said his budget-plan has gone from $220 to $461 per month since September.
With budget plans, costs are averaged over 12 months, meaning customers should pay the same amount each month whether it’s winter or summer. That typically keeps winter heating bills steady.
National Grid, which serves much of the Capital Region, warned consumers of the pending increases back in the fall, pointing to a sharp rise in wholesale natural gas prices.
Gas drilling in many places slowed during the COVID-19 epidemic and higher demand was driving up costs.
That was also showing up in electricity prices since much of the power consumed in New York is generated with gas-fired power plants.
In September, the company predicted gas costs would rise 39 percent or about $50 per month during winter, with electric rates set to go up 22 percent.
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