KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Consumers Energy says its Michigan customers shouldn’t expect sharply higher heating bills this winter, which bucks a national trend.
Some households could actually spend $25 less this winter if they use the same amount of gas they used last year, Consumers Energy spokesperson Roger Morgenstern said.
“That’s because we’re seeing about a 10 percent decrease in the cost of natural gas,” Morgenstern said.
The company bought that natural gas when the commodity was at its cheapest.
“We store our natural gas in 15 underground storage units across the state of Michigan and we fill those storage units over the summer months when gas prices are cheaper,” Morgenstern said.
Other utilities don’t have facilities like that, and that will show in their bills. The Energy Information Agency is expecting heating costs to jump as high as 22 percent nationally, depending on how frigid it gets this winter.
