ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Spire Missouri Inc. customers can expect more expensive gas bills starting in December. The Missouri Public Service Commission announced the changes based on a new price analysis study.
It says Spire East customers (which includes Missouri counties of St. Louis, St. Charles, Butler, Iron, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Crawford, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve) will see an increase the price per therm increase from $0.37 to $0.59. Spire West customers (which includes counties on the Kansas City side of the state) will see a price per hundred cubic feet increase from $0.40 to $0.79.
Those increases will come out to a $14.52 increase for the average Spire East customer's bill and average increase of $24.36 for Spire West customers, a Spire spokesperson told Fox 2. The cost of natural gas is primarily driven by supply, demand and the weather, according to the commission.
The rate changes are expected to take effect starting Tuesday.
The commission provided a list of way customers can help manage their gas bill:
Add attic insulation if necessary.
Place weather stripping around doors, use plastic film covering and caulk windows to keep heat from escaping from your home.
Change or replace furnace filters each month when dirty.
Have your chimney checked for blockage.
Close fireplace dampers when the fireplace is not being used.
Have your heating system checked and tuned-up if needed.
Place an approved insulated cover-jacket around the hot water heater.
Consider getting professional help for any projects that are beyond your capabilities.
Contact your local utility company to ask about energy saving tips and programs.
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It comes as amid a legal battle over a 65-mile pipeline that's set to be shut down on Dec. 13. Spire is still waiting to hear if it will be granted a Temporary Emergency Certificate to allow its STL Pipeline to operate through the winter.
The company has warned that up to 400,000 homes and businesses in the area could be left out in the cold if the pipeline cannot operate.
An attorney for the Sustainable FERC Project, Climate & Clean Energy Program, Natural Resources Defense Council says there's no need for area Spire customers to worry.
“Well I’ve got good news for you Charlie there’ll be no need for you to head over to Lowe's and get yourself a space heater," she says. "St. Louis customers will get their gas this winter and beyond. Be it on the Spire pipeline or on the Enable MRT pipeline which Spire used previously. Any claims that St. Louis will be boxed out this winter are patently false."
Recently, a representative of Spire Inc. got an earful from St. Louis County Council members over what one councilwoman called a "manufactured catastrophe" concerning a gas pipeline that could be shut down next month.
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