HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Huntsville Utilities says worldwide demand is driving up prices for natural gas and they’ve implemented a rate increase to start November 1, 2021.

The Huntsville Utilities Natural Gas Board approved an increase to the usage rate for all natural gas rate classes – residential and commercial. Rates will go up about 14 percent. Usage fees for residential customers will increase from $8.96 per thousand cubic feet (mcf) to $10.22 per mcf. Commercial customers, depending upon their rate class, will see an increase of about $1.00 per mcf in their usage fee.

With rising prices on natural gas, propane and other fuels, Americans can expect to pay significantly more to heat their homes this winter.

“We are like any gas company and have to buy our natural gas on the open market, its a very volatile market and so in response to that, we had to increase our rates and that’s happening all over the country,” says Joe Gehrdes with Huntsville Utilities.

While consumers across the nation can expect significantly higher energy bills this winter, Joe Gehrdes with Huntsville Utilities says their customers shouldn’t a significant spike.

“We’re not seeing that in the Tennessee Valley thankfully in large part because of the TVA. TVA has a very diverse generation fleet, they are less and less reliant on fossil fuels although they do have some natural gas in their fleet, they also have quite a bit of nuclear, hydro, solar, wind, a very diverse generation fleet. And that helps to avoid some of that,” says Gehrdes.