Long Beach Utilities customers will see a substantial decrease in how much they’re charged for natural gas after the department posted its March pricing Wednesday, which showed a 45% decrease from February.
The Long Beach Utilities Commission approved the $575,000 program on Thursday that will give $100 to residents struggling to pay their historically expensive winter gas bills.
A $575,000 pot of money could be authorized Thursday to help Long Beach households who don’t qualify for other assistance programs pay their recent utility bills.
The money is intended to provide relief after historic rises in the cost of natural gas. It will cover a $45 credit for all residential accounts, as well as additional assistance for certain groups of customers, including low-income households, seniors and those with disabilities.
The commission will meet Thursday to discuss the formation of a $7.5 million relief program that could benefit all account holders, many of whom saw their utility bills spike over the past two months due to the historic increase in the cost of natural gas.
Tens of thousands of customers in the Long Beach utility service area, which includes Signal Hill, saw large increases in their monthly bills over the past few months, as the price of natural gas increased by nearly fivefold since November 2022.
After months of high natural gas prices, the City Council has asked the Long Beach Utilities Department to create a relief program for low-income households that could be funded with $1.5 million generated by the city’s utility users tax.
Long Beach utility customers can expect some significant relief in February after natural gas prices plunged from a historic high of $3.81 per therm in January to about $1.28 per therm this month—a roughly 66% decrease.
The Long Beach City Council will hold a special meeting Wednesday, where it could decide to establish a relief fund to help people pay high natural gas bills.
Long Beach Utilities officials are optimistic that the historically high natural gas prices could be returning closer to normal in the coming months. But they’re still cautioning residents that this month’s bills could be expensive.
