Galesburg Reporter

Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy) said financial assistance "will be available" to help communities feeling the pinch following last month's skyrocketing cost of natural gas.

The Illinois Senate Republican Caucus said on Feb. 23 that communities across the state are dealing with the drastic price hike, resulting in some areas seeing a significantly higher bill than what it would typically cost for an entire year.

The increase in some areas was over a hundred times more than the price usually is, and it couldn't have come at a worse time either.

Illinois Sen. Jil Tracy (R-Quincy): ‘natural gas costs rose more than 100 times the normal costs.’ | Facebook

The jump in prices happened after much of the Midwest was rocked by the recent winter storms that impacted critical natural gas providers in Texas and Oklahoma and a significant increase in utility demand.

"In the middle of the bitter ... natural gas costs rose more than 100 times the normal cost," Tracy wrote in a Feb. 24 post on her Facebook page. "To help local officials and municipalities, the Illinois Finance Authority (IFA) is developing a $15 million low-interest loan program for municipalities that were affected by the jump in natural gas prices."

Reports suggested that municipalities whose source of natural gas comes from the Panhandle Pipeline paid $225 per dekatherm during the second week of February, compared to the average $2-$3 in any other typical year.

The extreme price difference per dekatherm could wipe out smaller municipalities with limited funds, especially since the bill to pay for the natural gas will be due soon.

The Illinois Finance Authority was scheduled to meet recently to put the finishing touches and iron out the loan program's remaining details. The IFA was still working to establish a way for the communities to apply to receive help to pay the costly natural gas bill.

More information is expected to be available in the near future.