Gas bill is $907? Sticker shock for Californians as prices soar
LOS ANGELES — Brent Eldridge had heard that prices for natural gas were high this winter, but nothing prepared him for how bad it could be.
When he opened the envelope from Long Beach’s utility department, he couldn’t believe the total: $907.13, nearly eight times higher than his bill at the same time last year.
“It made me want to puke,” said Eldridge, 48, a pastor.
Household budgets in the Golden State, already stretched thin as prices soar for everything from rent to eggs, are being pummeled by monster gas bills.
Southern California Gas Co. and Pacific Gas & Electric began warning customers in January that they would see higher bills after the wholesale price of natural gas hit record highs. But reality didn’t sink in for many customers until their bills started arriving later in the month.
SoCalGas said the average bill in January for its 21.8 million customers was about $300, more than twice the average of January 2022 — and homeowners with pools or many rooms to heat have reported being charged north of $2,000. PG&E has projected that bills in central and Northern California will be 32% higher this winter.
Both utilities say they don’t profit from higher bills because the cost of buying the gas is passed on to consumers, with no markup.
The sky-high numbers have spurred wrangling at kitchen tables across California, as families pick apart whether they ran the heater too much or took too many hot showers. Others have indignantly observed that the shocking bills followed a month of monastic living with the thermostat turned down and extra blankets on the bed.
Energy costs are a “crisis” that are walloping households already squeezed by inflation and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, who called an emergency meeting of the City Council this month to approve extra assistance for customers who can’t pay.
Bills have soared “to levels that we haven’t seen in the last 20 years,” Richardson said. “We know families are struggling to make ends meet.”
Wholesale prices for natural gas in the West were 300% higher in December than they were in January 2022. Since December, prices have plummeted, but customers won’t see that reflected in their bills until late February or early March.
SoCalGas’ customer service lines have received more than 1 million calls this year, an increase of 15%, said Gillian Wright, a senior vice president and chief customer officer.
“The first message is: Don’t panic,” Wright said. “We are not disconnecting customers. We don’t plan to resume any disconnection of customers until much later. And second, there are options, and we can find solutions.”
She encouraged customers who can’t pay their latest bill to avoid wait times on the phone and start on SoCalGas’ website, where they can set up a 12-month payment plan or qualify for income-based discounts.
The charges have been particularly ugly for Californians on fixed incomes and those with health conditions that are affected by low temperatures. Some customers have put their bills on a credit card or have been able to pay only a portion of the total.
Bev Laumann, 71, and her husband received a $301.49 bill for January.
The Tustin couple are retired, and both have health issues that can be exacerbated by the cold. Laumann, who has fibromyalgia, has started wearing silk undershirts. The thermostat is set three degrees lower than usual, she said, and the couple are drawing the curtains to keep in the heat.
“I’m juggling things around to pay it,” she said.
Squeezed by the cost of medical care and prescription drugs, Laumann has ruthlessly trimmed the household budget, eliminating restaurant meals, trips to Starbucks — even the convenience of storebought salad dressing. She’s baking her own bread and growing lettuce.
The couple have applied for a SoCalGas program that provides extra gas at the lowest rate for people with qualifying medical conditions. They aren’t below the poverty line, she said, “but if this keeps up every month, we will be.”
The shocking prices have left some households wondering whether there was a mistake on their bills.
Long Beach, which runs its own gas utility that also serves Signal Hill, included on a recent FAQ: “How do I know I don’t have a gas leak?” The answer explained that gas prices were at “historic highs,” and added: “But it’s always good to check!”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for a federal investigation into the wholesale price of natural gas, asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to look into “whether market manipulation, anti-competitive behavior or other anomalous activities are driving these ongoing elevated prices” in the West.
Utilities generally buy and store gas in the summer, when prices are lower, then tap into their reserves in the winter, when wholesale prices rise.
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that SoCalGas’ daily inventory began to fall in November, at a steeper rate than the average of the previous five years.