Could Natural Gas Costs be Headed Higher Locally?

Are Natural Gas prices headed higher locally if a rate increase request is honored by the Florida Public Utilities Commission?

Natural gas prices have tripled since the last Presidential Election beginning in early January of 2021.

From January of 2022 alone natural gas costs have doubled.

Obviously inflation is at a record, 40 year high, interest rates are going up and the costs for everything is going up---so the idea that natural gas could go higher is not out of the realm of the possible.

So when I received this email from a law firm representing a large statewide Natural Gas distributor--I immediately thought this could signal price hikes for this commodity locally.

I was copied, along with dozens of mayors and county commissioners, on this letter to the Florida Public Utilities Commission requesting a rate increase for this gas company, a regional company owned by parent company Chesapeake Energy.

After reading the letter, where Escambia County is mentioned prominantly as an area of the state where this firm had invested in expanding infrastructure, I asked our attorney to look into this and whether or not this would impact customers who buy natural gas from Pensacola Energy.

In an anticlimactic response, I was told that this company does indeed supply Pensacola Energy with natural gas.  But, this company is only one of two larger suppliers from whom Pensacola Energy buys Natural gas. (I asked, but did not get the answer to the question of what percentage of total Pensacola Energy gas comes from this firm, the one requesting a price increase)  Additionally, it was reported back to us that the prices Pensacola Energy pays to this Chesapeake affiliated company have been negotiated in advance and locked in for a number of years which "should" prevent price increases to end-users locally--regardless of what happens at the Public Utilities Commission when they act on the rate increase request.

So we will see if local customers see steady billing.

If I were to hazard a guess, though, I would assume that the prices will tick upwards---regardless of what was negotiated.

But we will see.

Plumbing Issue Erupts between City and local Plumbers Association

Many private sector plumbers locally have
said they think this situation stinks!

The issue between the private sector plumbers of Escambia County and the City of Pensacola has played out quietly behind closed doors, on limited social media outlets, and in the email inboxes of elected officials locally via wave after wave of emails.......  It has been relatively low key thus far.

I think this is about to change.

Now a very well respected and high-profile attorney locally has weighed in on the side of the plumbers.  Many of us received a copy of the letter this attorney sent to the city yesterday.

The issue is simple:  Should the public sector (Pensacola Energy) unfairly compete with the private sector with respect to installations of gas appliances in homes in the county?  The private sector can't compete with the prices the public sector is offering, and the local plumbers are losing work.

According to a local plumbing contractor I spoke with, the difference in price can be substantial.

"If I do a home installation of a tankless gas water heater in a house--the costs can exceed $1700 dollars.  If Pensacola Energy does it, they do it for the cost of the appliance.  I can't compete with that price because I have overhead to pay.   It's not fair." said this plumber.

The issue was on the agenda for the County and the City to discuss at the recent joint meeting, however at the last minute the City unilaterally pulled the item from the agenda.

The County sent a letter to the city requesting specific answers about this practice.  In response, the city declined to answer but offered to facilitate individual, one-on-one meetings with each commissioner to "explain" the practice.

The recent animosity between plumbers and Pensacola Energy might
be on the verge of rupturing like a broken water line...

Because long ago I read and I fully understand Blackford v School Board of Orange County --I do not participate in scheduled, one-after another,  one-issue staff/board meetings.  Such meetings serve to circumvent the open meeting law--so I don't do them.

So with no forward progress, It appears as if the plumbers are going the legal route...... 

From the letter:

"....activities by Pensacola Energy violate several federal and state laws, including without limitation:

  (1) Sherman "Antitrust" Act, 15 U.S.C. 1-7
  (2) Florida's Antitrust Act; Fla. Stat.  523.15 et. seq.
  (3) Fla. Stat.  501.201 et seq......

....By publically endorsing select members of the "plumber partners" cartel, the City of Pensacola is