Photo courtesy of Minnesota Sen. Bill Weber Minnesota Sen. Bill Weber, R-Luverne, joined others in the Senate to approve legislation establishing a 2021 Polar Vortex Loan Account for municipal utilities that purchased natural gas during the extreme weather that occurred in February.

St. Paul — February’s extreme cold caused a heating and power crisis across much of the U.S., and many natural gas consumers may be feeling the effects on their bills in the future. State legislators say it will be important for Minnesota to help protect municipal utility providers and their customers.

On Thursday, the Minnesota Senate passed legislation establishing a 2021 Polar Vortex Loan Account for municipal utilities that purchased natural gas during the extreme weather that occurred in February. The bill provides $15 million from the state general fund for zero-interest loans for utility providers to ensure that consumers don’t see skyrocketing prices on their next bill.

“When we think energy, I’m sure hardly any Minnesotans believes that a cold front down in Texas could have a disastrous impact on Minnesota,” said Sen. Bill Weber, R-Luverne. “Unfortunately, as a result of the vortex and consequential gas market fluctuations, we’re seeing just that. Today’s bill provides much-needed relief for our utilities and ensures that they have the flexibility to protect consumers from bills that are as much as ten times their usual charge.”

Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls, said the bill was a good first step toward helping Minnesota gas consumers.

“I think it was a very necessary bill,” Dahms said. Private natural gas providers may be able to spread spikes in gas costs out over their customer base, but smaller municipal gas utilities can’t do the same, he said.

“We want this bill signed into law in the next couple of days,” Dahms said, although he added that we will have to see what happens in the House and the governor’s office.

When the polar vortex occurred from Feb. 12-17, the price of natural gas multiplied as demand went up and production halted at facilities across the U.S. The market fluctuation delivered an unprecedented price surge which began in Texas and rippled across the Midwest.

In a Thursday news release, Weber’s office said the surge undermined the budgeting of some utilities. During Feb. 12-17, costs ballooned so high that some utilities spent their entire gas purchasing budget for the year.

The impact on residential customers could range from $250-$500 for those five days alone. This could mean a user who usually pays $40 a month could be paying upwards of $400. For businesses, one example showed that their typical $12,500 gas bill had risen to $125,000 because of the spike, Weber’s office said.

The Polar Vortex Loan Account would grant municipal utilities the flexibility to pay their bills now while spreading consumers’ costs out over the five-year repayment term.

While there aren’t a large number of municipal natural gas utilities in the Marshall region, a few communities, like the city of Tyler, do have municipal gas utilities.

Some area gas providers, like Great Plains Natural Gas, are still working out what the exact impact of February cost spikes will be on consumers. Great Plains Natural Gas spokesman Mark Hanson said the impact for each customer could range from $275 to $300. Hanson said the company will have new filings for the Public Utilities Commission early next week.