Doug McGowen, president and CEO of MLGW, says his team informed customers and predicted considerably higher bills after the Mid-South was covered in a thick coating of snow and ice for weeks.
Customers’ utility expenses skyrocketed due to the freezing winter conditions. According to McGowen, the higher bills were the result of both increased usage and rising prices.
He told the City Council on Tuesday that during January’s severe weather, customers used 20% more power and 60% more natural gas, resulting in an average utility bill that went from $248 in January to roughly $394 in February.
Electricity rates also increased because natural gas accounted for 44% of the electricity generated during the storm.
“The good news is, we made it through the storm and everybody had utilities and everybody was able to stay warm,” McGowen said. “The bad news is, we had utilities and everybody used a lot of them, and the prices for natural gas were higher, and so our bills are going to be higher.”
