PERRYVILLE, Mo. (KFVS) - In the midst of a national natural gas price surge, the City of Perryville has been working to avoid passing the prices on the the residents.
After negotiating with their natural gas provider, the city was able to keep prices low, because their usage has remained at or below the contracted amount.
Originally in City of Perryville Facebook post on Friday. Feb. 12, the city stated customers could experience prices 60 or 70 times higher than normal.
Perryville’s natural gas is provided by the Interstate Municipal Gas Agency, a nonprofit joint action agency that provides natural gas services throughout the Midwest.
In a release, the City of Perryville called Feb. 12 “one of the wildest days in the natural gas market ever.”
On February 11 and 12, some midstream companies reported issues at some of their gas plants, also some pipelines were reporting operational issues.
In southwest Missouri, natural gas wells are freezing, this is leading to a limited supply.
These issues paired with the severe winter storms, and low temperatures spiked prices across the Midwest.
Oneok Gas Transmission natural gas prices surged to as high as $367.85, after starting the week around $3.00.
Gas prices at the Houston Ship Channel sky-rocked as high as $225.00, on Friday, Feb. 12.
They have requested that customers reduce their usage of natural gas as much as possible.
Perryville is not the only city in Missouri asking customers to conserve energy, Branson and Springfield are suffering from a limited supply of natural gas.
The Energy.gov recommends the following tips to reduce natural gas usage:
Take advantage of the sun.
Cover drafty windows.
Set your thermostat as low as is comfortable.
Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning.
Turn down the temperature of your water heater to the warm setting.
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