Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 2, 1994 TAG: 9402020064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Because temperatures were colder over the past several weeks than they were last year - and, for that matter, colder than the historic average - some gas and electricity customers are seeing their bills go up by as much as 40 percent.
Spokesmen for Roanoke Gas Co. and Appalachian Power Co., which serve the Roanoke Valley, say higher bills often result in an increase in complaints from customers who do not associate colder weather with increased use of natural gas or electricity.
"We'll get a lot of higher-bill complaints; there's no question," said John Williamson, Roanoke Gas vice president for rates and finance. Many people will ask the gas company to come and check their meters, he said.
Apco also gets an increase in complaints during abnormally cold weather because of higher bills to customers, said Apco spokesman Don Johnson.
The utility's way of measuring how much colder last month was than the previous January is to compare heating degree days. A month's heating degree days total is the sum of the number of degrees the average daily temperature falls below 65 degrees each day during the month.
In January, the heating degree days for the Roanoke Valley totaled 1,061, according to the National Weather Service at Roanoke Regional Airport. By that measure, it was 36.5 percent colder than last January, when the heating degree days totaled 777. Last month was 12 percent colder than what the weather service considers a normal January for Roanoke.
Because so many variables are involved, it is difficult to calculate the financial impact of colder weather on an average energy user. The fact that both Roanoke Gas and Apco bill throughout a month rather than on a single day, giving different customers different billing periods, also makes comparisons difficult.
However, the two utilities did provide the following examples of bills for customers that show what people are experiencing this winter.
One Roanoke Gas customer who was billed $110 for the gas he used in January 1993 saw his bill go up 42 percent to $156 this January. An Apco customer, whose billing cycle begins in mid-month, saw his December-January bill increase from $144.71 last year to $201.46 last month, or 40 percent.
While the weather accounted for the biggest part of the increase in both gas and electric bills in the Roanoke Valley, other factors - such as the purchase of new electrical or gas appliances - could also have been at work in individual cases, the utilities said.
Higher rates for both gas and electric service also played a role. Roanoke Gas customers are paying 6 percent more for gas this year than they were last year and Apco customers are paying 5.5 percent more based on a rate increase the company put into effect in May.
The Apco increase is still subject to approval by the State Corporation Commission, meaning customers might get a refund if the full rate increase is not approved.
Williamson said the colder than normal weather could mean that Roanoke Gas' budget-billing plan might not adequately cover actual gas usage this year. Depending on weather conditions this month, the company may make adjustments to bills during final months of this year's budget plan to smooth the effects of increased usage.
About 33 percent of Roanoke Gas' customers use budget billing, which seeks to even out monthly bills over the course of the year.
In another matter related to the effect of the weather and Roanoke Gas, Williamson said the company had started cutting off gas to its "interruptable customers" Monday in anticipation of cold weather later this week.
Interruptable customers are large industrial customers who in exchange for lower gas rates agree to have their service cut off during periods of extreme demand on the gas system.
by CNB