Gas prices are dropping like leaves in autumn, but is your energy bill doing the same?

Not yet if you’re a Cleco Power LLC customer.

But that’s soon to change, Robbyn Cooper with Cleco said, because the power company’s prices are set using a two-month delay. Cleco, like most electric companies, relies on natural gas to power your home.

That said, when gas prices rise, so does the price you pay for the energy you use.

Currently, Cleco is charging its customers 7.6 cents per kilowatt hour, way up from last year’s 6.7 cents per KWH. But that figure is based on fuel prices from two months ago, Cooper said.

“One thing you have to keep in mind that’s a little bit different is we’re on a two-month delay with gas prices. For your October bill, you’re going to be charged for August gas prices,” Cooper said.

The cheapest energy prices of the year came in March and April when Cleco was charging only 6.6 cents per kilowatt hour. That number spiked in May to 8.4 cents and peaked in June and August at 8.9 cents per KWH, which reflected the $4 per gallon national average for gas.

Since then, Cleco’s charges have steadily fallen thanks to the fleeting price at the pump.

Cooper said Cleco’s fuel prices are based on market prices and are not inflated to make a profit.

Cooper said she expects the number to continue to fall, just in time for the holiday season. If trends continue, next month Cleco’s fuel charge could drop another whole cent.

Cleco services around 80,000 customers in St. Tammany and about 270,000 customers statewide.

Those of you with Washington-St. Tammany Electric cooperative, Inc., probably have not even noticed a change in your energy bill.

Kurt Hellmann, manager of governmental relations and member services, said WST uses coal to power your homes, unlike the more common natural gas-powered energy companies.

With coal, the volatile fuel market doesn’t bother WST’s energy prices, Hellmann said, thanks to a long-term coal contract they are currently under.

“I doubt natural gas will ever get cheaper than coal,” Hellmann said.

For more information on either company, visit their Web sites at www.cleco.com or www.wste.coop.