Look ahead

Wondering what to do with your soon-to-arrive federal tax rebate check• Save it, unless you forgot the amount you were paying for natural gas to heat your home this past winter.

Here's the scary part: I reviewed my Columbia Gas bills over the past several months and noticed that the change in fees for the gas cost adjustment and gas supply charges from September 2000 to February 2001 was a whopping 101 percent increase. Now let's say you believe the stories about a shortage of natural gas over the winter months. It's now summer, and my May-June gas bill just arrived. Comparing the same two gas fees, Columbia Gas has only dropped the outrageous February rate by 3 percent. That's still a 95 percent increase over last September.

A little common sense should tell anyone that this upcoming winter will likely bring higher gas rates again. The $400-$500 monthly bills that many people saw this past winter could easily go to $700-$800.

But don't blame Columbia Gas. It's smart enough to get on the same bandwagon as the oil companies, which over the past two years have reaped huge increases in profits while telling the public that they are only passing on the price increases in crude oil. Since most Americans have apparently bought that story and are now used to $1.50 a gallon for gas, why shouldn't other utilities sell the same line•