"New strategy to act as 'insurance' but will add between 4% and 6% to residential bills"

Gotta pay for the StreetSense consultants and for staff to redo the Casti TDM plan because 6.5 years just isn't enough time for staff to follow CC instructions write its own plan and instead let Casti write it for them.


"The city would, however, have to pay an adder fee between $0.075 and $0.11 per therm. This would translate to an increase of $3.78 to $5.94 for an average winter residential bill, which is about $99.80."

Please find us one person / household with a bill under $100. Just one.

Re: "policies like Palo Alto's proposed gas strategy are pretty rare, according to city staff."

Large consumers of products "hedge" their price all the time -- this is a customary strategy in the real world.

What is the duration of this "insurance"?

As for Burt's comment about how residents responded to last winter's spike and that it "affected their perspective on the performance of our utility, and our local government in general," I think it important to make clear that residents don't question the utility workers. I've lived here for decades and have never heard anyone say anything negative about the staff in the field who respond to calls and emergency situations.

Back in the bad old days of Enron's ripoff of California utility users, Palo Alto's contract allowed us to get ripped off for millions in and then after CPAU finally cancelled the contract with Enron, Enron them sued PA for early cancellation of the contract so we got ripped off again.

Web Link

Palo Alto to pay Enron $21.5 million
Uploaded: Mon, May 2, 2005, 10:10 am 0

"Palo Alto has agreed to pay Enron $21.5 million to settle a lawsuit the energy company filed against the city. The company sued the city for more than $50 million because the city cancelled energy contracts with the company in 2001, before the company went bankrupt..."

The article also has a nice summary of the facts behind PA's energy contracts, its PG&E contracts etc.

My average monthly gas bill for 2022 was well under $100/month

@James, interesting. Thanks.

I'm wondering how your big place is, how many people are home all day and how many people live there -- if you feel comfortable saying.

The proposed insurance plan will cost all gas rate payers more over the years. I believe Palo Alto Utilities already offers the option to spread the cost of high bills over a few months to lessen the impact.
The only upside of insurance will be the acceleration of customers switching to all electric appliances.

@Online Name

2000 sq ft. Two people. How much do you pay per month?

@James,

2000 sq feet, 2 people and a dog. My gas bill varies dramatically depending on the month.

During the summer it's under $100 but in the winter it soars dramatically to $400-$500 a month with the total CPAU bill last winter being around $1,000 even with the heat set very very low.

My gas bill is the same every month, and it only rises when the city charges more for supplying a gas line and servicing the account. My pilot is off, and I use portable electric heaters that are very energy efficient. I have toyed with the idea of having the meter shut off but it's minimal and who knows, if it's a three dog night I may prefer to use the gas heater someday.

@Online Name
For six months of the year, my gas bill is about $30/month for water heater, dryer and range. Our house has insulation in the walls and attic. Maybe an energy audit could help.

@Online Name

For six months of the year, my gas bill is about $30/month for water heater, dryer and range. Our house has insulation in the walls and attic. Maybe an energy audit could help.

To solve a problem, one must address the problem. The reason natural gas and gasoline are so expensive is because of government at the federal and state level. When supply is cut purposely, that impacts the supply/ demand equations that drive the world economies.

If we generate the necessary supply and return to energy independence, then prices will decline to below where they were three years ago. Sacramento politicians have forced oil companies to cut production 25 % requiring the purchase from more expensive international sources.

Windmills and solar is nice, but what our country, state and city need is not an insurance policy but to address the long term issues with supply. And let's remember that the US is again buying energy from foreign sources and those countries may participate in the BRIC strategy of an alternate currency than the dollar for commodity transactions. If that occurs, then the price of energy will double to start with. Smart and innovative leaders, which we do not have today in Washington nor Sacramento will be needed to remedy the situation.