Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities Gas Rates topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council authorizes temporary gas-cost recovery after extreme-cold billing spike
Summary
Gas Superintendent Todd Wilson told the council that extreme cold and market conditions drove up purchased natural-gas costs; the council authorized staff to follow Baker Tilly’s recommendation to spread recovery across billing cycles to limit customer sticker shock.
Gas Superintendent Todd Wilson told the Rensselaer City Council that a long cold snap and market conditions pushed the city’s purchased natural‑gas costs well above the previous month and recommended a temporary recovery adjustment. "The cost of gas the city must purchase was considerably higher than the previous month," Wilson said, describing an adjustment the city will apply to customer bills to recoup higher supplier costs.
Wilson said the city would use a gas tracker mechanism and reported a tracker figure and an associated increase described in staff materials as 0.0574 (noted in council discussion as an increase of 0.2747, or about $0.27 per 100 cubic feet) to be applied to the next billing cycle. He emphasized the intent to spread the cost so customers would not face a single large bill: "We're going to just spread the cost out to them so it's not a sticker shock at the beginning."
Staff said it had met with consulting firm Baker Tilly and planned to implement a staggered recovery. Baker Tilly’s recommendation—discussed on the council dais—was to apply roughly half of the recovery on the current billing cycle and spread the remainder across one to three subsequent months depending on weather and usage. "Half is what Baker Tilly is recommending for this billing cycle," a council member said during debate.
Council members and staff framed the measure as an operational step to keep the utility solvent while limiting hardship for customers. Officials noted the utility retained flexibility to adjust the number of months used for recovery if unusually cold weather returned.
After questions about pressure stability and system backups, the council moved and approved a motion authorizing staff to implement Baker Tilly’s recommended recovery plan. The council did not record a roll‑call tally in the transcript; members indicated assent by voice vote.
Next steps: staff will apply the tracker adjustment as directed and monitor weather and usage trends to decide whether to extend the recovery period beyond the initial months.
