10.13.22 - Utilities Prepared to Meet Consumer Demand for Electricity and Natural Gas During Winter
' The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today announced that it expects the State’s utilities will have adequate supplies of natural gas and electricity on hand to meet the demands of residential and commercial customers in New York State. Meanwhile, the global commodity costs of natural gas, heating oil, and propane have continued to rise, resulting in utility and heating cost increases, along with additional increases in oil, gas and electricity prices.
“We will continue to closely monitor the utilities serving New York State to make sure they have adequate sources and supplies of electricity and natural gas to meet expected customer demands this winter,” said Commission Chair Rory M. Christian. “The utilities have hedged approximately 70 percent of their estimated statewide full service electric residential energy needs to mitigate the electric market price swings that could occur this winter.”
Customer Outreach: The Department of Public Service has a proactive program in place to help customers receive the information and assistance they need. The outreach and education efforts include publications in multiple languages about billing and payment options, financial assistance programs and winter preparedness measures to help with winter bills, and the steps to take if customers are faced with heating-related energy emergencies.
Electric and Natural Gas Price Forecast: This winter’s electricity and gas bills are expected to be higher than last year due to higher electric and gas commodity prices. On average, a residential electric customer using 600 kWh per month is expected to pay about $75 per month for supply this winter, up 42 percent from the same period a year ago, but the actual amount varies by utility. Meanwhile, the average residential customer using 732 therms of natural gas can expect to pay an estimated $240 per month during the winter heating season (November through March), up 29 percent from the same period a year ago, but note that the actual amount will vary widely by region due to the weather. A colder-than-normal winter will cause usage and bills to increase. Note that the State’s investor-owned utilities take steps to reduce the volatility of electric and gas supply prices to their full-service residential customers. Between financial hedges and gas held in storage, gas utilities have hedged approximately 53 percent of their estimated statewide customer needs. However, customers are not completely shielded from global market price volatility.
Winter Heating Preparedness: Staff continues to track weather impacts, pipeline and storage assets, and interruptible customer compliance, and will also work with the local distribution companies (LDCs) and communities to find innovative solutions that increase environmental benefits, while meeting customer expectations for their energy demands. This work includes the aggressive pursuit of efficiency measures, demand response and other solutions to meet growing space and water heating needs. The LDCs serving New York State are finalizing contracting for adequate natural gas supply, delivery capacity and storage inventory to satisfy firm customer demands under peak winter conditions. The Department will also continue to closely monitor areas of the State where demand is growing at a faster pace. The ongoing gas planning proceeding will modernize the long-term planning process used by the gas utilities and require them to file long term plans that include energy efficiency, demand response programs and other programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the State’s natural gas system and implement uniform moratoria procedures. The new planning processes will also allow for extensive stakeholder input. Department staff continues to coordinate with oil industry representatives and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to ensure that customers have access to adequate supplies of winter heating fuels. In keeping with the Commission’s reliability requirements, natural gas companies are auditing systems, processes and procedures, as well as scheduling tests to ensure that interruptible customers comply with the Commission's alternate fuel requirements.
Electric System Preparedness: There is sufficient capability to meet electric demand for the winter. As part of the winter assessment, the major electric generating facility owners in Southeast New York that own about 12,000 MW of dual fuel generation capability were contacted. Staff found that these owners are continuing to implement lessons learned from the Polar Vortex winter of 2013-2014, including having increased pre-winter on-site fuel reserves, having firm contracts with fuel oil suppliers, conducting more aggressive replenishment plans, and having more proactive pre-winter maintenance and facilities preparations. '