Winter Heating Costs | Video

Amy Fox | 10/4/2012

Outside it`s a brisk fall day, but inside, things are heating up.

"I turned it down this morning. I put on a sweater," said Minot resident Sherry Edwardson.

With cooler weather the past few days, people like Edwardson are already firing up their furnaces.

"Well, I`m just praying that it will be nice this winter."

While the price of natural gas is four percent less than it was last year, you may think twice before you crank up your heat.

"Last year, the winter was very mild and this year if it`s a normal winter, you can expect higher customer bills," said Montana-Dakota Utilities Minot District Manager Nick Cain.

Even with last year`s mild winter, it still cost a lot to heat up.

"I think I remember my son, one month we had a mild winter and he paid over $400 or $500 and that was just a month," said Edwardson.

Take your heat bill from last year, add a couple of bucks per month and that`s what you could pay this winter.

"Customers could maybe expect maybe a seven dollar increase per month, which over time, would amount to about $35 annually for the heating season."

"Well, it`s terrible. We`re fortunate,” said Edwardson. “We can probably get by, you know, we can make it and get by. But there are a lot of people that can`t."

Even with chilly temperatures forecasted, Edwardson is still staying optimistic about another mild winter.

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