Residential heating bills can come as a shock at this time of year. But for Concord Steam customers, it’s not just the difference between summer and winter.
Last month, the city and high school paid nearly 70 percent more for heat than they did in December of 2015, officials said Friday.
While temperatures were considerably colder last month than the December before, the jolt is partly due to price increases from the city’s lone, fading centralized steam heating plant, Concord Steam. While all its customers will need new heating sources after May, when Concord Steam plans to close, smaller buyers are able to adapt more quickly, dwindling the pool of ratepayers.
Concord School District Business Administrator Jack Dunn said that will leave the state and city governments and the school district making up the difference by paying higher prices.
“The issue is you’re going to have people jumping off. As soon as they can get off, they’re getting off, and the ones that are going to be left with the burden (are) you, us and the state,” Dunn told city officials at a joint meeting.
Dunn said the cost to heat Concord High School last month, for instance, was $142,000 – a 65 percent increase over the previous December’s $86,000.
The city of Concord’s heating bill last month was about $43,500, said Brian LeBrun, the deputy city manager of finance. That’s a 67 percent increase over December 2015.
On Concord Steam, Dunn said, “We’re in the same boat.”
“When I hear what we’re paying year over year and what you’re paying year over year, I hope taxpayers know what’s the real impact of Concord Steam,” Mayor Jim Bouley said. “When you start talking about the bills, I think that’s truly enlightening.”
City and school officials hope an end is in sight.
“The sooner we can go (away from Concord Steam) the better,” said Dunn, whose district is preparing to spend $9 million converting four schools to natural gas heat.
The increased rates are one thing, but Concord Steam’s customers, which include several cash-strapped nonprofits, must also pay for the conversion to natural gas infrastructure.
A petition is pending before the Public Utilities Commission to create a $1 million fund that would help these non-governmental customers transition. The gas company that agreed to buy Concord Steam, Liberty Utilities, would be allowed to recover that money through its general distribution rates, if approved.
A PUC process is under way to determine whether that’s a fair solution. Although the commissioners haven’t made a determination, the staff of the PUC and the office of the consumer advocate have said they’re opposed to the petition. The final step in the ongoing process, according to the PUC docket, is a hearing on the merits scheduled for Feb. 10.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)