Here's how much your natural gas bill will go up this winter in Southern Indiana

EVANSVILLE − CenterPoint Energy says its Southern Indiana customers can expect an increase in winter natural gas bills again this season, and charitable organizations that provide utility bill assistance say they are already straining to provide help.

"We are expecting things are going to be very difficult this winter," said Joe Cook, executive director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Area residents can expect to pay an average of $150 a month based on 108 therms of gas usage during the months of November through March this winter, CenterPoint Energy told customers Wednesday. That breaks down to about $1.40 per therm of gas used. It is a 3.5% increase over last winter's average bill of about $145 a month.

Last winter's increase amounted to a whopping 95% increase over the previous winter. That increase was driven by a combination of factors that included not only high natural gas prices, but an increase in service and distribution fees that kicked in right as weather began to turn cold.

CenterPoint residents also had been paying for the increased price of natural gas specifically caused by a devastating February 2021 snow and ice storm that hit Texas especially hard, impacting natural gas prices nationwide. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission allowed CenterPoint to recover that price increase over 12 months.

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That charge ended after July, said Alyssia Oshodi, a CenterPoint spokeswoman.

While the state allows utilities such as CenterPoint to charge natural gas customers for distribution and service, utilities do not profit from the purchase and sale of gas. The expense is passed directly to customers with no price markups.

Many lower-income residents are still struggling to catch up with their utility bills, which only grew as the cold months turned into an early summer hot spell that strained the electricity portion of bills. All of that

"Just in the last two months we've had about 500 requests to help with gas and electricity bills," Cook said.

Utility bills already piling up

As pandemic-related moratoriums on utility bills and housing evictions ended and COVID relief funds have dried up, lower-income residents are facing higher bills again just as winter looms, Cook said.

"They are playing catch-up. That is what is really concerning. People still are catching up with their bills," said Noah Werner, director of case management at St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Just in the last few weeks, Cook said, several people have come in asking for help with utility bills ranging from $700 to over $2,000.

"We operate off of donations from parishioners and some of what is made at our thrift stores," he said. "The need is far outstripping what we can provide."

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It's the same for Catholic Charities Diocese of Evansville, which provides emergency financial help to households in Southwestern Indiana to help with rent and utilities.

"Our organization works diligently to assist as many households as possible with our available resources," said Executive Director Denise Seibert Townsend. "However, demand for this service consistently exceeds available resources."

Cook said St. Vincent de Paul Society did receive a $50,000 grant from the CenterPoint Foundation this spring but state regulations prevent it from specifically being used for energy bill assistance. Instead, it is being used for water and rent bill assistance. Another $20,000 from CenterPoint will also be used for water and rent assistance.

Bills depend on many factors

The amount gas bills are expected to increase this winter is an average and can vary according to factors such as size and age of homes, insulation, thermostat settings, number of gas appliances and how many people are in a home.

"It's kind of a double whammy on low-income folks. Typically, they live in older, non-insulated, less efficient homes," Werner said. "The low-income bear the brunt of it."

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Thursday it most households will likely spend more money for energy this winter compared with recent winters. It expects wholesale prices for natural gas to be higher this winter leading to higher retail prices for both natural gas and electricity this winter. Natural gas is the most common fuel used to generate electricity in the country.

Almost 90% of homes in the United States are heated by natural gas or electricity. The federal agency forecasted that an average U.S. home will spend $931 on natural gas during the October-March heating season this winter. That is a 28% increase from last winter. The EIA outlook said the largest increase in residential prices will likely be in the Midwest.

However, the energy outlook could vary depending on cold or warm the weather is. The EIA's winter outlook assumes winter temperatures in most of the country will be slightly colder than both last winter and the average for the previous 10 winters.

How to get help with utility bills

Cook said St. Vincent de Paul Society is recommending people apply to the Energy Assistance Program for low-income state utility assistance.

It is administered locally by The Community Action Program of Evansville. Details can be found at www.capeevansville.org/ or by calling 1-800-872-0371. It provides state and federal utility assistance money for customers with incomes that fall within 60 percent of the state median income. CAPE will start accepting applications for the current heating season Nov. 3-May 15. It will begin accepting applications Oct. 20.

Cynthia Balde, CAPE's energy assistance, said the program helped 4,674 applicants last year, an increase of about 1,000 over the year before.

CAPE Executive Director Gary Roan said that may have been in part because there was extra federal funding from American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief.

CenterPoint also offers other resources for helping customers on its website such as energy efficiency resources, due date extension and payment arrangements, and its budget billing program.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville residents can expect higher heating bills again this winter