Local News
(2008-08-08)
BISMARCK, ND
(Prairie Public) -
With the prospects of high-priced natural gas this winter, Bismarck-based MDU is sending flyers to its customers -- warning about the winter heating season, and offering tips to save on natural gas use."We're looking at approixmately $350 more than last year for the heating season, November through March," said MDU spokesman Mark Hanson.
The flyers contain a number of tips for MDU gas customers to save on their heating bills.
About 50,000 North Dakota customers are on balanced-billing.
Hanson says in a normal year, natural gas prices drop in summer, and MDU buys and stores that cheaper gas. But Hanson says that didn't happen this year.
Meanwhile, oil retailers are warning of a big jump in heating oil.
"I had a customer, a little old lady, who used 1,000 gallons of fuel oil a year to heat her house," said North Dakota Petroleum Marketers chairman Paul Goulding. "In 1982, it cost her $600 a year to heat her house. At current prices, it costs her $4,000."
Goulding says he hopes Congress can do something soon to put downward pressure on oil prices. And Senator Byron Dorgan says Congress is working on increasing funding for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program.
"They range from programmable thermostats to regular maintenance, and to use 'balanced billing,' which will help spread out that cost over 12 months," said Hanson.
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