PITTSFIELD, Ill. — Last year saw a harsh rise in natural gas prices during a winter shortage. The hike in prices left many consumers paying substantially more than usual. Some are still paying down the unexpected bill of hundreds of dollars that was owed in order to maintain heat.

Pittsfield City Council took a vote and made the decision to buy a larger supply of natural gas this coming winter in hopes to evade a similar issue should there be another shortage this year. Mayor Mendenhall allowed that during the coming winter months, the cities normal purchase of 70% of its five-year daily average for natural gas was increased to 110%.

“We opted for the cheapest way to get gas,” Mendenhall said. “We are vastly more prepared this year than we were last year.”

“We’ve been watching the market and we were concerned about the price of gas,” Mendenhall said. “We don’t want to run into a situation like we did last year.”

The gas supply is purchased daily. The gas that is not utilized will be sold back to the supplier at market value, or if the city happens to go over, it purchases more for that day.

“By buying how we bought, we got a blended price,” Mendenhall said. “Everything we are reading right now is indicating we are going to see a harsh winter and we want to be prepared.”