Chicago Residents To Face Higher Natural Gas Bills; Possible Transport Fare Hikes

Chicago, IL (AHN) - Chicago residents have been warned of gas bill and transport fare hikes. According to Chicago's Citizens Utility Board, heating bills for the coming winter will be several hundred dollars higher.

Tom Zack, vice president of Integrys Energy Group told the Illinois Commerce Commission on Tuesday winter gas bills will likely escalate by 10 to 25 percent from 2007 prices.

It would translate into $75 to $185 higher gas bills for subscribers of Peoples Gas, $77 to $185 for North Short Gas clients and $78 to $200 for Nicor Gas customers. The estimate is for the November to March season.

For the entire winter season, the average household winter gas bill would be about $1,000. But for some residents, that is still good news because they expected gas bills to double when fuel prices were soaring a few weeks back.

To cut on gas bills, utilities urged customers to prepare in advance by placing better insulation such as calking the windows and weather stripping around the doors.

Meanwhile, Chicago City Mayor Richard Daley said Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be blamed if the Chicago Transit Authority will hike its fare in 2009 for the first time in three years. About $40 million was lopped off from the CTA budget, while the governor required free rides for low-income residents with disabilities and city hall mandated also free rides for active military personnel and disabled veterans.

"You want to give everybody a free ride, but who pays for it? CTA has to pay for it... Everybody's lining up. Where do you get the money?... You don't get it from heaven," Daley told media.