LINCOLN, NEB. – August 8, 2023 – Increased costs for everything – from gasoline to groceries to energy – are a topic of conversation in the communities we serve. Imagine being able to pay the same price for a gallon of gasoline or a gallon of milk for a year – no matter how much market prices fluctuate.

Each summer, Black Hills Energy offers select customers in eastern Nebraska a similar opportunity through its Annual Price Option (APO) program, which allows residential customers to lock in their rate for natural gas, per-therm for one year.

Residential customers can enroll in the APO beginning Aug. 15 at www.annualpriceoption.com or by calling 800-753-7509. Enrollment ends Oct. 9, 2023, or when 14,000 customers have enrolled – whichever comes first. The locked-in commodity price will be in effect from Nov. 1, 2023, through Oct. 31, 2024. Since there is no automatic rollover year-to-year, customers must re-enroll if they’d like to remain in the APO program.

“The APO program is helpful for customers who are looking for more consistency and predictability in their budgets, especially during cold winter months. Just like any commodity, supply and demand influence the market price for natural gas. By signing up for the Annual Price Option program, you’ll know the gas rate you’ll pay, regardless of what the natural gas market does,” said Quintin Gaddis Black Hills Energy’s general manager of operations in Nebraska. “It’s important to note that Black Hills Energy does not make money on the cost of natural gas supply – customers are charged the same price as the company pays for the cost of the commodity with zero markup from Black Hills Energy.”

Customers’ bills will still fluctuate based on how much natural gas supply is used by the customer. This change is due primarily to cold weather. A customer’s gas consumption and billing level is also affected by the efficiency of natural gas appliances, how well a home is weatherized and other standard company billing items.

Customers who don’t wish to participate in APO will continue to be billed using Black Hills Energy’s traditional natural gas supply portfolio rate. The price of traditional billing will fluctuate with market conditions.

All Black Hills Energy customers are welcome to sign up for Budget Billing. This program provides stabilized monthly billing, which helps avoid spikes during the peak of heating season.

The 2023-24 APO price per therm is $0.64370, compared to the 2022-23 price of $0.87649

* In addition to the actual natural gas supply cost, all customer bills include Black Hills Energy’s basic monthly charge and other fees and taxes approved by the Nebraska Public Service Commission, including the 2021 Polar Vortex charge. The commodity portion of the bill is subject to the annual Gas Cost Reconciliation (identified on the Black Hills Energy monthly bill as “GCR”) per-therm charge.