Ameren Illinois is proud of the job the utility did in keeping natural gas prices lower this winter.
It has been a cold winter, and utility bills have skyrocketed for many people and business.
One reason was demand. Brad Kloeppel (KLEP pull) is the senior director of natural gas operations and technical services for Ameren Illinois.
Kloeppel says Ameren was able to hold the line on charges to customers because of its storage capacity.
The closest is the Hillsboro Storage Field which can serve about 46-thousand meters when withdrawing 125 million cubic feet per day.
Kloeppel says demand drives prices, making the cost of natural gas very expensive during the storm, $70 per thermal unit.
He says Ameren was able to buy the gas in the summer months when it was $3 to $4 per thermal unit.
Price volatility gripped the energy sector from January 23rd through February 2nd.
Kloeppel says nearly 2 and a half billion cubic feet of gas was withdrawn from storage over the six day period. That’s more than 10-percent of the total gas inventory available for the winter season.