Capitol Briefing on Winter Heating Bills

On February 23, 2022, several legislators invited representatives from Wisconsin’s investor-owned utilities to provide information to legislative offices at the Wisconsin State Capitol about the higher-than-average costs of natural gas heating bills this winter. On this episode of the Electric Wire podcast, we share a recording of the briefing, including information provided by Bill Skewes, Executive Director, Wisconsin Utilities Association; Rich Stasik, Director of State Regulatory Affairs, WEC Energy Group; Sara Mead, Director of Gas Supply, WEC Business Services; and, Matt Vincent, Senior Manager of Energy Markets and Fuel Supply, Alliant Energy. Energy Information Administration: Fluctuating weather this winter has significantly affected natural gas prices… “Natural gas prices in the United States fluctuate during the winter months due to a variety of factors, including the levels of natural gas inventories, production, consumption, exports, pipeline congestion, availability and competition with other energy sources in electricity generation, and weather. Unusually cold winter weather events result in increased demand for space heating and may be accompanied by production disruptions (such as well freeze-offs) or natural gas infrastructure disruptions (such as compressor outages).” Link: https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly/archivenew_ngwu/2022/02_24/#itn-tabs-0 We Energies: Understanding the PGA line on your bill “Natural gas is bought and sold on the commodities market, similar to goods like oil or milk. The price we pay for the gas is the same price you pay — there is no mark up.” Link: https://www.wecenergygroup.com/home/message/we-energies-cold-wx-impact.htm Related Resources Home Energy Plus Application https://energybenefit.wi.gov/OnlineApps/OnlineApp/Default#! Keep Wisconsin Warm Fund https://www.kwwf.org/apply