Anyone else choking down their MDU bill this month? Mine was about $100 dollars more than normal...YIKES!!

If you noticed on your bill..a couple months ago a DK of gas was at a rate of $3 and some cents, the next month it was $6 and some cents this month it was $7 and some cents. This is nuts. What in the world are people on a fixed income supposed to do? Our bill this month was a little over $400. Our house payment is $580.00 It's pretty bad when your MDU bill passes your house payment. What would we have done if we would have had a very cold winter??

Isn't natural gas in this country very plentiful and if so why on earth is it going up like this now?

to answer your question howdy....

It all started with the 2001 secret energy meeting headed up by Uncle Dick Cheney on Bush's National Energy Policy Development Group. These meetings were held in secret, but you don't have to be a genius to figure out what was discussed. Gas is $3.00 a gallon now (give or take). That was a little easier price to raise with the help of a hurricane and a war waged against one of the larger supplies of crude to the world all in the name of "national security." All one has to do is look at the profits for those oil companies since then....I believe they break a new record every time they post a profit statement. (I know Richard...you're sporting wood...you must be proud of that big fella).

Natrual gas wasn't as easy a sell, because the gas came from right here in our own back yards..."so, how we gonna get rich off that, Uncle Dick?" "Should we make up some story about supply and demand?" "Should we blame it on how much these damn Americans want to get paid?" That's my favorite...Americans want too much money to do anything. It's better to make whatever we want in Mexico or China...save some labor costs. Problem for the big boys at the meeting was, the gas is already here, and it's not that hard to get...plus, we don't have to go over seas to get it. If they could have shipped it all to Mexico via some underground tunnel, just to drill for it there...they would have.

So they needed to figure out how to jack the price so they get get filthy stinking rich instead of just rich. After all they still need to pay for that 4th mortgage on their "cabin" in Whitefish.

Well, there in lies the answer to your question....they couldn't come up with a reason, so they just raised it anyway. Hell, George and Dick only have another 10 months in office..."George, we might as well fulfill our promises we made to the natty gas people back in '01. After all, those people are your father's good golf buddies. Sure, it would have been nice to have a good reason for letting the gas companies jack the price to outragous prices. But if they (the people)don't like it, we'll just tell them what my daddy told [email protected]#$% you!"

One last note...funny how stopping a recession involves giving everyone $600 "tax rebates"...when they know damn well that those checks will be going to pay off everyone's utility bills from this past winter. Just another way of filling the pockets of their buddies with a little more of the tax payer's money.

Feel free to get angry or have a drink...or both.

What is the solution to this Mule Train?

There is plenty of natural gas. One of the problems is likely enough pipelines to get that supply into rural markets like MT.

Another reason natural gas is so high is that a lot of it is being used to make nitrogen fertilizer for corn and subsequently ethanol production.

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr (edited 2/25/2008).]

Ah, wonderful ethanol, the scourge that is "saving the planet"

OK people. Hell has officially frozen over. I actually agree with Rick on something! Will wonders never cease?

ABC

Don't worry - it's not just high in MT. I paid a $594 gas/electric bill in Jan - most of it gas - for about a week of "cold" weather in San Antonio. It was in the 80s today, so pretty soon we'll be turning the A/C on.

Not surprised... 18 hole indoor golf courses are expensive to heat.

OK, So our utility bills are outrageous!! We can sit here and complain, or do something about it. We are proof positive that something CAN be done. Our last bill was $109. That was for the month of January, right here in Miles City. I am rabid about turning off lights, unplugging appliances when not in use, conserving hot water use, and yes we heat with wood. I even went so far as to heat water on the wood stove in order to wash dishes, clothes, etc. Seems like I'm going back to the "dark ages", but look at the bottom line. Living on one income it is worth all the extra work to save some $$$. Even little changes make a big difference. Now if I can just figure out how to lower my water bill!
Liz

MDU is still a regulated utility isn't it? It wasn't a part of Racicot's grand energy deregulation scheme was it?
= = = = = = = = =


Yeah, it would be nice if we could drop the subsidies for ethanol produced from food crops. I'm not sure what the current federal subsidy is for corn-based ethanol - in 2006 or 2007 I think it was around $7 billion dollars. The corn-fuel subsidy program has been in place now for what - something like 30 years. It seems to me that if producing fuel from food crops is indeed a viable path to take, then the corn-fuel industry could stand on its own by now. And if those subsides were removed it would level the playing field so that bio-fuels from non-food crops (& the waste stream) could compete in the marketplace. But there are some powerful lobbies lined up to support corn-fuel, so I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that $7 billion to be struck from the next Ag budget.
+ = = = = = = = =


Our electrical cooperative here is looking into geothermal to generate electricity. They have teamed up with Conoco Phillips to do a feasibility study on (very) small scale electrical generation from geothermal sources. There have been some relatively new technological developments that allow for power generation from geothermal sources in the 120 to 160 degree F range. When I read about this lower temp technology, I thought of that hot water aquifer north of the Yellowstone between Miles and Angela.

Yes, fortunately MDU is Montana DAKOTA Utilities and the D is still regulated or it would be worse. I have twirly bulbs all over the house, keep the thermostat down and try to save on various things but there are limits. I still need some heat and some electricity. Can't get the internet to run off a hand crank like an ol' timey phone.

What is the solution to this Mule Train?

Do like the good people of Napal and burn cow poop to heat your house. Great smell. Sort of like Washington DC during an election year.

"Now if I can just figure out how to lower my water bill!"

Perhaps you could cut, haul, and melt ice from the Yellowstone.

Well here in West Yellowstone a DK goes for arond $14.20. So things in ole' Miles aren't that bad.

Looks like we might want to get used to the ideas of colder winters and bigger MDU bills in the future.

http://www.dailytech.com/...e10866.htm

WWGD?

Geez Richard, you trying to get us killed? Or maybe arrested
It sounds like a good idea, but I have recently learned from another thread that it is extremely dangerous to be on the Yellowstone when it's frozen over.
Liz

We invested last fall in a corn stove. The initial cost was large but what we have saved in propane and electricity should help it pay for itself in a year. Our electric bills were $200.00 + and then we had a 500-gallon propane tank at $1.81 a gallon. We have used since last October $300.00 in corn to heat with plenty to last us until the cold weather is done and our electric bill went down to just over $60.00 and it is that high because we have a hot tub. We live in southern South Dakota and it has been a bearcat of a winter.
Lisa

I live in Waller County, TX.; former Miles City resident. A friend of mind has a corn cob heater also and says their bills are way down.

Thankfully, our weather has been pretty mellow for about 12 months and bills for both heat and air conditioning have been reasonable.

Hell froze over today when we had -- on March 7 -- snow flurries in the Brenham/College Station/Somerville area, where we spend alot of our time at our lake house where my retired hubby often has a remodeling/building project going on. I drive in about 50 miles each day and gas is about to kill our budget. Looks like we will begin to live most days at our place in Hockley, TX., 15 miles from my office....

Gasoline prices can sure change your lifestyle.

"corn cob heater also and says their bills are way down"

I fail to understand how with corn at $5.50+ a bushel it is cheaper on a $/btu basis that natural gas. I worked for a guy that had one of these stoves and spent at least hour a day every week in maintenance. If you value time at all how is this "cheaper"?

I wonder what advantage corn would have over say a pellet stove. There must be some reason I guess.

None that I can think of. The moisture of the corn was always a factor in the stove I was working with. It would always hang up in the bin and the fire would go out. The other problem was if there were stalk pieces the feed augur would hang up. So you had to screen the corn. It was not a reliable heating source. Burnt corn ash in the air doesn't mix with computers too well either.

At least OUR energy Nazi is up front about what they're doing. Here in Grand Junction Colorado, we're sitting on top of one of the largest natural gas reserves in the U.S. Since discovering this, they have since built a huge supply line from here to central Ohio to transport the gas there. Excel energy "our MDU" had an article in last weeks paper saying our rates would be going up again in April. Why? Because they were gettting a better price at a higher demand in Ohio and as such would be raising our cost to match. How's THAT for honesty?!? The gas is literally under our feet, but we send it out of state first so we can pay more for it later.

http://nextbigfuture.com/...saudi.html

No idea if this is reliable, or will pan out in the end. Interesting to think about though.

MDU asks PSC for rate increase of 4.1 million

They say they haven't raised rates for 20 years. First it was natural gas and now electricity.
http://www.kulr8.com/news...48791.html

Rick
I live in Minot ND. The area between Minot and the Montana border and south to I-94 is all being looked at for oil. They are drilling in the Parhall area which is near the big lake. They are horizontal drilling under the lake. Western ND economy is really buzzing because of the oil business. It is very hard to rent a house or apartment in the area. The cafe's and bars are going great guns. I travel to Williston on Highway 2 for work and the highway is heavy with oil related trucks and vehicles. There are several rigs along the highway. The problem is that the oil goes out of state to be refined leaving us with high gas prices. As I understand it the 3 Affilated Tribes on the Ft.Berthold reservation in New Town has completed all the enviormental studies required to build a refinery. I understand it took several years to get this done. Now they are looking for money to build the refinery probably or hopefully in partnership with the State of ND. Ah yes I do have some mineral acres although not in this immediate area but in the Cedar Hills area near Bowman.