[01/10/01] Vicksburg utility departments are preparing to send out a new batch of residential bills Wednesday and are expecting to hear alarm over the cost of natural gas.

Mayor Robert Walker said he plans to ask the gas department to give people extra time to pay the round of high bills that come with chilly winter weather.

“I’m requesting that we allow customers to set up installment plans to pay those bills that are higher than normal,” Walker said.

But as shocking as some bills may be, most Vicksburg residents who use gas to heat their homes are more fortunate than residents elsewhere. Here, unit prices have not been increased to include the nearly tripled rates being charged by suppliers.

Walker added that he wants to keep the prices Vicksburg charges low for as long as possible by using money from the gas department’s reserve fund. In December 1999, Vicksburg paid $1.96 per 1,000 cubic feet of gas. In December 2000, the city’s cost was $5.86 for the same amount.

The city’s bills, which also include charges for water, garbage collection and sewer service, will reflect repeal of a $1 per 1,000 cubic feet rate cut. That reduction was enacted a year ago when city officials enacted record increases in other utility categories.

Since rates are largely stable, the increase on this month’s bills would mean only a few dollars’ increase for most residential customers if it were not for the fact that this has been a particularly cold winter.

Walker said the gas issue might come up at today’s board meeting. He said he hopes to authorize a specific dollar amount to be used from the gas fund’s $5 million in reserves, and when that amount is used up, prices would have to be raised.

Additional help may be available for people who can’t afford the winter’s higher gas bills.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last month released $2.1 million to help Mississippians pay their winter heating bills as part of a larger nationwide $300 million program.

In areas of the state with private natural gas service, including Port Gibson, prices have already risen dramatically as companies passed through the higher cost of fuel.

Some Vicksburg residents who were annexed in 1990 also still receive service from Union Gas, a private supplier. As reported Tuesday, they are paying about $11 per 1,000 cubic feet in comparison with others in Vicksburg who are paying about $7 for the same amount.

Supply problems and pipeline distribution regulations have contributed to the sharp increase in natural gas prices this winter, according to Mississippi’s natural gas suppliers.

Natural gas storage levels are 31 percent below last year’s levels, officials from Mississippi Valley Gas, Willmut Oil and Gas, Reliant Energy and Entec told U.S. Rep. Ronnie Shows, D-Miss.

Shows met with the suppliers Tuesday to discuss possible solutions to residential gas prices.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.