L.A.'s rare cold snap causing natural gas prices to surge up.Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area residents who moved out West to escape cold winters may feel like they never left home. Record low temperatures that have enveloped en·vel·op tr.v. en·vel·oped, en·vel·op·ing, en·vel·ops 1. To enclose or encase completely with or as if with a covering: "Accompanying the darkness, a stillness envelops the city" the region are expected to soon create an East Coast-like spike in home heating prices for natural gas in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , while electricity prices are expected to remain insulated from the bump. Single-family homeowners supplied by Southern California Gas This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Co. will pay an average of $90 to $100 per month this winter for natural gas, up from $67 per month last winter, said Peter Hidalgo Hidalgo, state, Mexico Hidalgo (ēthäl`gō), state (1990 pop. 1,888,366), 8,058 sq mi (20,870 sq km), central Mexico. Pachuca de Soto is the capital. , a spokesman for the Gas Co. "They come out here to escape the cold but Southern California does have an occasional actual winter," Hidalgo said. "That appears to be the case this year." Southern California Gas Co. paid 72 cents per British thermal unit British thermal unit, abbr. Btu, unit for measuring heat quantity in the customary system of English units of measurement, equal to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water at its maximum density [which occurs at a temperature of 39. in November and managed to find fuel at 61 cents per thermal unit thermal unit: see British thermal unit. for December. (These fluctuations are passed onto customers.) Starting in January, however, the company expects prices will increase beyond November rates and continue to climb through March. Winter electricity bills for Southern California Edison's 4.6 million customers will remain relatively stable, officials said, because the utility, a unit of Edison International, generates its power from nuclear, coal and hydro plants it owns and operates. It buys additional power from the plants generating electricity with reusable energy and natural gas. The rise in natural gas prices will not be enough to have an impact on electricity prices, which Edison says will remain stable at about $69 per month (or 12.6 cents per kilowatt hour) for a single-family home through 2005. The utility doesn't break down averages for winter and summer months, but officials said summer bills are about 33 percent higher due to the use of air conditioning units. "We believe, at least at this time, we will not see any substantial change in customer rates next year," said Steve Conroy, a spokesman for Edison. |
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