Share to Facebook Post to Twitter Email Holy Cross Energy avoided around $11 million in inflated costs in the month of February thanks to power purchasing flexibility. Other local utilities were not as fortunate. Photo by Raleigh Burleigh. In February, a once-a-decade weather event occurred in Texas, bringing unusually cold temperatures and snowfall. During this storm, demand for natural gas skyrocketed for both heat and electricity, at the same time as availability plummeted due to frozen gas supply lines and reduced pumping capacity from blackouts. This mismatch in supply and demand in Texas increased natural gas prices around the country. According to a presentation made by Holy Cross Energy’s Vice President of Power Supply and Programs, Steve Beuning, “I believe the dollar amount that Xcel Energy spent on natural gas during those four days was somewhere in the range of $300 million, or approximately four months worth of their natural gas normal purchasing expense.” Higher costs to Xcel Energy (Xcel) get passed down to their retail and wholesale electricity customers, including Holy Cross Energy (HCE).