The skyrocketing cost of natural gas is troubling people in Deming, who are concerned about having to cut back on all other essentials just to take hot showers and warm their homes.

“We’re complaining about the price of gasoline for cars, now gas for the house for heat,” an anonymous Deming resident told KRQE. “How are we supposed to survive?”

The Deming resident, who gets her utilities through the city, said last month her gas bill was a little more than $98. Her latest bill more than tripled to $356.32.

Deming City Administrator Aaron Sera told KRQE, the gas provider, the San Juan Basin, blames the cost increase on supply issues. The city told its customers in December that because of a 70% increase in natural gas prices from November, it would send out a $20 rebate for each bill from January to March, for the roughly 6,000 customers impacted.

“It seems like a drop in a bucket when the price goes up 350% and that happened to be a $380,000 hit to the gas budget,” Sera said. “It’s going to be difficult to recover from this but we’re going to do everything that we can to help this community.”

Sera said the city is negotiating with the company that orders the gas, Symmetry Energy Solutions. The company has agreed to sell the city gas at a different price if they lock in a price for four years. The city also turned to the state for assistance. Leaders are meeting this week to discuss plans for both immediate and long-term relief.

The city of Deming hopes prices will level off, but that could depend on whether it reaches an agreement with Symmetry Energy Solutions. The company has until January 31 to agree to the terms. For now, the city is not requiring customers to pay their bills until April.