LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — CenterPoint Energy announced Thursday they are asking Arkansas customers to "continue temporarily conserving natural gas by lowering their thermostat settings at least through Monday, Feb. 22."
The natural gas company said that even though temperatures are beginning to warm up, the winter weather and high demand of heating across the country has made natural gas a limited resource.
Here's what CenterPoint said:
Try to keep your thermostat between 60 and 65 degrees during the day and at home and about 5 to 10 less when away or asleep, as this can help relieve the demand on natural gas and customers won't get theirs shut off.
"Commercial and industrial customers who tend to be heavier users of natural gas have stepped up and are reducing their operations," said Ross Corson with CenterPoint Energy.
The increased usage of power is due to more people being at home and trying to stay warm during these frigid temperatures, but there's also a national reason the demand for natural gas is so high.
"Natural gas prices are at a high," said Roedel. "There's also an issue with getting natural gas because so much of it is going towards power plants. Most of our energy now is created by natural gas power plants."