FULTON- Fulton City Council says they have paid over $2 million over the last four days for natural gas.
The council held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to address the ongoing natural gas and electric wholesale cost surge.
Normally, the city pays about $3-4/dekatherm (the unit of natural gas), but over the last four days, they've paid around $224/dekatherm. The council said on Wednesday the city will start paying $132/dekatherm.
Fulton Director of Administration Bill Johnson says this problem stretches farther than just Fulton.
"This isn't just a problem here, this is a problem that ranges from the top of North Dakota, all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico," Johnson said.
During the emergency meeting, information regarding both the impact on natural gas and electrical energy costs were explained.
The topic of where the funds to pay for these costs was also brought up during the meeting.Â
"We have several options, we can try to borrow money from the electric reserve and pay it back over time. We will have to pull from other places because we know that some of our residents just can't pay these exorbitant prices," a city official responded.
Johnson also said that since it was a holiday weekend, the response from local government and federal officials has been slow.
"We're hoping for a state of emergency to be called, this situation is just like a hurricane in Florida. It's out of the people's hands. The governor has to declare the state of emergency before the president can," Johnson said.
The council says such a declaration could assist in reducing the city's costs.
Mayor Lowe Cannell said this issue cannot fall on the residents.
Residents were told they should not see an increase in their energy bills at this time, but are encouraged to reduce their usage.Â
The next Fulton City Council meeting is scheduled for some time next week, where council members assured the gas issue would be discussed.
More information will become available, as this situation is ongoing.
