Natural Gas Alert
2/16/2021
Dear Sabula Community,
On Friday of last week, we were informed by our natural gas supplier, Clayton Energy, that the demand for natural gas in the Midwest and other areas of the United States is in high demand. This is due to the extreme low temperatures in much of the United States. Freezing in portions of the natural gas infrastructure that supply municipalities in many locations has also caused a reduced supply of natural gas. This demand in natural gas has also caused the price of natural gas to rise at a rate that has not been seen before in the natural gas industry.
What does this mean for Sabula and its residents? The City has had to purchase gas at an unusually high rate within the last week. Overall the City's gas account is in a finacially healthy state. However, the council will need to assess the situation after the cold temperatures break. Part of the assessment may include how to recover from the abnormally high natural gas prices.
Sabula is not the only community facing this natural gas challenge. Many cities in our area are facing more difficulty with the pricing of natural gas. The City of Sabula has been very proactive in protecting our financial well-being, especially within our gas department. It is hard to say at this point, what affect this natural gas challenge will have on our residents.
Some communities are urging their residents to help conserve energy until supply is back to normal. These include setting your thermostat a degree lower, heating only certain zones of your home, limiting the amount of hot water usage per day, etc.
This notice might alarm some of our residents. The purpose is not to alarm but to inform- we are trying to be transparent with our residents and provide updates as soon as we receive information from our natural gas supplier.
Please be understanding and patient with this challenge. Like stated before, we do not know at this time how this will affect our residents, we need to collect more information. If you have specific questions concerning the demand for natural gas, please contact us through City Hall.
Thank you,
Troy Hansen, Mayor