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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma consumers will not likely see their monthly utility bills fall much this winter, despite plummeting prices in the natural gas market in recent months, officials said Wednesday.

That’s because Oklahoma companies that distribute natural gas are locked into unusually high prices on gas purchased during the summer months.

Gas prices topped $13 per thousand cubic feet in July, and they have dropped about 50 percent since then.

But the price declines recently are unlikely to translate into lower utility bills in the winter months because utilities are recovering the high cost of supplies purchased earlier.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said the natural gas market “went nuts” this summer and consumers are paying the price.

Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. customers, for instance, paid for service in October that was based on gas costing $11.06 per thousand cubic feet, compared to an $8.52 cost for the same month in 2007. The fuel cost also was up in November over the same month a year ago.

Skinner said the commission has received complaints from consumers wanting to know why their gas bills have not gone down as market prices fall.

“It certainly is a situation that lends itself to confusion and perhaps some unhappiness on the part of customers,” ONG spokesman Don Sherry said.

Skinner said it is unusual for natural gas prices to increase in the summer months, when demand is low. He said utilities routinely make large purchases in the summer, but this year faced “an energy market that got upside down.”

He said homeowners and businesses that use electricity also are seeing an impact on their monthly bills. Electric suppliers also purchase large quantities of natural gas.

Utilities are not allowed to make a profit on the cost of gas, but can pass the cost onto customers.

Sherry said ONG buys about 50 percent of its supply of gas during the summer.

The first priority of the company, he said, is to ensure that it has enough gas in storage to supply the needs of customers.

At this time, he said the best guess is that ONG customers will pay about the same amount for the winter months that they paid a year ago. He said the price could be down 1 or 2 percent, depending on what the market does.

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