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Orrville utilities director warns residents to expect higher electric bills after natural-gas price spike
Summary
Utilities Director Bregginger told council Feb. 2 that extreme short-term natural gas price spikes are likely to raise electric bills; he encouraged residents to avoid inefficient space heaters and said the plant’s peak sales could offset costs.
Utilities Director Bregginger told Orrville City Council on Feb. 2 that recent extreme moves in the natural gas market have sharply increased the city’s fuel costs and could cause higher electric bills for customers even though the city is not raising rates at this time.
"I just expect folks to see higher electric bills this year," Bregginger said, noting the city had paid a couple of hundred thousand dollars for gas during a colder spell in 2024 but expected January bills to be closer to $1,300,000. He said the city has had the same retail rates since 2017 and that higher bills would reflect usage and market-driven fuel costs rather than a change in local rates.
Bregginger also urged residents to limit use of space heaters, calling them "notoriously inefficient," and described how the plant’s operation in peak-shaving mode lets the city sell some excess energy into the wholesale market. "During these times when we are running the plant in this peak shaving mode, we are selling some excess energy into the wholesale market, but it also offsets our cost," he said, and added that a transmission-system peak set that day would probably result in savings to customers in excess of $6,000,000.
Council members did not propose a rate change at the meeting; Bregginger said the city was monitoring bills and would decide on any adjustments later in the year if necessary. The city noted that some billing effects reflect temporary market conditions and customer usage during cold snaps.
