MPR: Actual costs vs. fixed-rate plans: A comparison

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Actual costs vs. fixed-rate plans: A comparison
November 8, 2005

A CenterPoint Energy customer who lives in a western suburb of the Twin Cities, compared his actual cost for natural gas over the past three years to what he would pay under the company's "No Surprise Bill" option. He says his bills would have been higher under the "No Surprise Bill" by an average of 26 percent over the past two years.

ACTUAL MONTHLY COSTS

	Quantity (in therms)				Cost
Month	02-03	03-04	04-05	02-03	03-04	04-05
December	129	132	111	$89.08	$106.04	$116.07
January	169	153	197	$115.91	$133.63	$193.62
February	178	183	130	$130.46	$160.90	$123.79
March	158	119	133	$148.01	$110.19	$121.06
April	93	85	73	$89.54	$68.92	$69.76
May	61	59	67	$51.66	$53.81	$70.79
June	38	39	32	$36.07	$41.17	$36.33
July	33	32	28	$32.73	$34.61	$31.80
August	27	25	25	$26.27	$27.51	$31.19
September	28	26	26	$26.57	$27.06	$35.70
October	43	39	31	$37.51	$36.69	$47.85
November	87	75	38	$69.06	$12.91	$58.65
TOTALS	1,044	967	891	$852.07	$813.44	$936.61

NO SURPRISE BILLING

	03-04	04-05	05-06
Per Month	$88.28	$90.54	$112.19
Per Year	$1,059.36	$1,086.48	$1,346.28*
No Surprise Bill exceeds actual	$245.92	$149.87	n/a
Percentage	30%	16%	44%*
* Estimated

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