Spire West natural gas customers in Howard, Moniteau, Pettis, and Saline Counties saw their rates double Tuesday from 40 cents per hundred cubic feet of gas to 79 cents. Central Missouri natural gas customers of both Ameren Missouri and Spires Energy saw higher bills because of a February severe freeze in Texas that blocked the flow of gas to other states and spiked wholesale prices.

Spires Energy officials doubled gas rates to about 80 cents per hundred cubic feet of gas. Ameren Missouri officials did the same thing on November 1. Fulton natural gas customers were not seeing the higher rates because Fulton was one of the few cities in Missouri that acted as a natural gas utility. City Administrator Bill Johnson said the City of Fulton had enough reserves to keep natural gas prices at lower levels for his customers.

Johnson said, “The reserves that we have in the bank and the natural gas fund came from the consumer. You can think of it as the profit the city makes. We put that money in a special fund to allow us to weather situations that we’re going to be coming into during the next several months.”

Ameren Missouri and Spire Energy officials said energy assistance was available to some customers who had trouble paying utility bills.

Spire Energy Spokesman Jason Merrill said, “What we pay for gas is what a customer pays for gas. With this significant increase, we went to the Public Service Commission and filed for a mechanism to spread out this cost over a three-year period.”

Ameren Missouri Spokeswoman Pam Harrison said, “Recouping those costs over that normal 12-month period would have a more significant impact on customer rates. We worked with the Public Service Commission to try and smooth that out.”

Members of the Missouri Public Service Commission had some energy-saving tips to help lower your natural gas bill that included adding attic insulation, replacing furnace filters once a month, and contacting your local utility company to ask about more energy-saving tips and programs.