Energy bills likely to increase for some in the Ozarks due to February’s extreme cold weather event

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Tuesday’s winter-like blast may bring back memories of the deep freeze felt across the Ozarks a couple months ago.

While the cold temperatures won’t last as long. the cost to keep warm during that record cold snap likely will.

Cory Grider asks, “How much? Are they going to put it over the rest of the year? Is it going to be a lump sum?

These are questions many of us want the answers to.

“Our last bill after the snow-pocalypse was $290 something. Our last bill that we just got was $240 something,” he said.

He’s with Liberty Utilities, a company with thousands of customers across the Ozarks. Right now, the costs of February’s winter storm have yet to be determined.

The company issued this statement in response to our questions about future bills:

“The extreme winter weather event in February led to record-setting energy demand and increased fuel cost across the Midwest. This impacted many electric service providers, including Liberty. Fuel costs paid by Liberty are passed through to customers for collection, but fuel costs from the February winter weather event have not yet been reflected on customers’ bills. In Missouri, fuel cost charges are changed bi-annually, and the cost to customers is spread out over a six-month period through a Fuel Adjustment Charge (FAC) rider on the monthly bill. We recognize the hardship that the extraordinarily high fuel costs incurred during this historic winter storm could have on our customers. We continue to work with our stakeholders through the regulatory process regarding options to help customers with the fuel portion of their bill from the winter storm, including deferring certain costs that would otherwise be due from Missouri customers in the near future through the FAC.”

Utility officials in smaller area, like Seymour, are also working on final charges.

For City Utilities customers in Springfield, the cost of extra electricity will not be passed down to customers. However, natural gas costs will. Each customer can expect to pay an extra $2 on their monthly bills in summer, $10 extra in winter. The fees may be collected over the next two years.

“Because we have local generation sources we can kind of support ourselves and lower the costs for our customers,” said City Utilities General Manager, Gary Gibson.

Electric Cooperative companies also have multiple sources for generating power keeping costs down.

Mark Viguet, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications for Associated Electric Cooperative said, “We have a diverse generating mix. It’s very balanced, coal, natural gas, wind and hydro-power. That gives us flexibility during these severe events.”

This helps member-owners who get their power from companies like White River Electric Cooperative.

“When we work together and we pull our resources we definitely have the best and biggest impact,” said Manager of Communications for White River Valley Electric Cooperative, Cassie Cunningham.

There won’t be a financial impact passed on due to the winter storm.

In fact, the company says they continue to find ways to help people pay their bills.

“We’ve been trying to pool a lot of different financial resources to help our members,” she said.

“Overall City Utilities, based on our past planning, weathered the situation, no pun intended, very well,” said Gibson.

Viguet said, “Things don’t always go as planned and you need to have options. Options are a good thing. Balance is a good thing.”

Grider says he will continue to remain hopeful his bill won’t break his budget.

“We’re just putting every dollar we can than doesn’t go towards bills or groceries or living back into savings,” he said.

Officials say a state and federal commissions are still investigating claims of price gouging of some resources during February’s weather event.

Their findings could be released in just a few weeks.

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