The town of Macon voted to bill their residential users an average of $14 per month to cover the $1.8 million that was allegedly price gouged through market manipulation of their natural gas prices after a winter storm in February.
“Customers have appreciated that the costs were not passed along in one month and we have not had a lot of negative comments about the payment plan,” said Stephanie Wilson, general manager of Macon Utilities. “That said, customers have not received a bill with the additional charge yet.”
Macon Utilities announced that the corrective measure will begin on April 1 in a letter sent to Macon's natural gas users on March 17.
Alderman Tim Otten
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“While continuing to pursue financial relief measures and investigations into price gouging for February 2021 natural gas prices, at the Board of Public Works (BPW) meeting held on March 15, it was approved to begin recovering the $2,151,680.51 natural gas expense incurred in the event that relief is not provided,” wrote Wilson.
As previously reported, GOP Representative Aaron Griesheimer (District 61) sent a letter signed by 80 elected officials asking Attorney General Eric Schmitt to step in and investigate the natural gas shortage, which resulted in a quadruple increase in the price. But to date, Schmitt has not reached out to any city, according to New Haven Alderman Tim Otten.
“We have finally been able to talk with someone within the Attorney General's office but all that he would say is that he has received many complaints and they are ‘researching,’” Alderman Otten told the St. Louis Record. “I am not sure what there is to research since I have provided all the documents necessary to start an investigation into the trading practices on Intercontinental Exchange.”
Wilson added that investigations are taking place at the federal level through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Reliable Electric Commission.
“I have also heard, but I have not researched, that the Missouri Public Service Commission has launched an investigation into price gouging for natural gas for February 2021,” she said. “We are hoping that as a result of these investigations that there are preventative measures for the future. The natural gas market has been deregulated at the wellhead since the late 1970s.”
Unlike Macon, New Haven decided to bill natural gas customers who were using the gas at that time of the storm. About 90% of the users decided to pay the complete bill up front, including all of the large users, according to Alderman Otten.
“With the vast majority of our users paying their bill upfront and not paying overtime, New Haven's reserves are almost back to where they were before this happened,” Otten said. “If we would spread it over time, there could be that a user would leave the city, or a new user would come on board and be asked to pay a bill that they were not a part of when it happened.”
New Haven owes $700,000 to its town’s gas management company.