The price of natural gas spiked last month, thanks to the cold spell in the southern US.
North Dakota’s natural gas providers saw the spikes – and will have to pass them on to consumers. But the North Dakota Public Service Commission has opened an investigation into those price spikes.
"Our job is to take a look at mitigating the impacts, to the extent we can, from a balanced billing standpoint," said Commissioner Brian Kroshus. "It would be spreading those costs out, so consumers aren't experiencing 'sticker shock' on any particular bill."
Kroshus said by doing that, the average monthly impact of the price spikes will be a lot less than having the whole cost hit all at once.
"Just being cognizant of those who are especially on low incomes -- to get that in one large chunk would put some undue pressure on them," Kroshus said.
The companies that provide natural gas service to North Dakota have said they are looking at ways to spread cost out over several months, even perhaps over a year.
