Xcel says customers protected from spikes

AMARILLO — Winter Storm Uri made electricity more expensive to produce because of shortages in natural gas used to fuel area power plants. But Xcel Energy customers in Texas and New Mexico will be protected from the extreme billing spikes that are making news in other parts of Texas.

That’s according to a news release from Xcel Energy.

“The news about huge spikes in customer bills we’ve been seeing are focused on certain customers within the ERCOT area of Texas who had signed up for variable rate pricing,” said David Hudson, Xcel president. “While we did pay unusually high prices to procure natural gas for our power plants during the cold weather, we are able to recover those costs over time in a manner that won’t greatly impact our customers.”

The news release continued:

Xcel Energy plans to seek approval to stretch out recovery of fuel costs up to a 24-month period in both Texas and New Mexico. The company is still calculating the natural gas and market energy costs from the Winter Storm Uri but expects monthly residential impact of the additional fuel costs to be around $7 more per month over two years.

Natural gas fuels about half the region’s electricity supply. On the coldest days of Winter Storm Uri power plants in Texas and New Mexico were receiving as little as 30% of the firm gas supply needed to keep the plants running at full capacity. As natural gas became scarcer, it became even more expensive.

“Our system held up very well given the strain of very high demand and limited supply of fuel,” Hudson said. “Clearly, the investments we have made in our infrastructure over the last 10 years positioned us well to provide reliable service during these frigid conditions.”