WESTFIELD — Homeowners may be concerned about the unpredictable energy market heading into winter, and Westfield Gas & Electric General Manager Tom Flaherty talked about how ratepayers can expect that unpredictability to manifest itself in their home energy usage.

With prices for essentially all forms of residential energy rising, Flaherty said that WG&E is in good shape to get customers through the winter with no hiccups, but it may depend on the cooperation of Mother Nature.

“We had a couple of days of minimal cold. So far, knock on wood, we have been OK,” said Flaherty, referring to multiple uncharacteristically warm days last week, when temperatures rose into the 60s in some places.

Climate change is named so because it leads to volatility in the seasons. Utility companies in a region like New England that has consistent winter temperatures around the freezing point can plan their energy allocation based on those expected temperatures. Though the unseasonably warm temperatures last week offered a reprieve to Westfield’s energy consumption as people heated their homes less, a lengthy cold snap could put utilities in a bind, especially as prices continue to rise.

“We have our base natural gas level in the winter,” said Flaherty, “The issue is peaking days.”

WG&E has an insurance policy that Flaherty said typically costs about $500,000. This year, because of the rising energy market, that same policy cost $4.5 million, a nine-fold increase.

Though the market is past its pandemic peak, Flaherty said that prices are still three to four times what they were a year ago. He credited Jay Klein, who leads WG&E’s energy management group, with managing daily energy volumes.

If this winter is consistent and does not present long periods of extreme cold, the municipal utility shouldn’t need to raise prices for ratepayers.

“If that happens, we are great for the winter,” said Flaherty, “But a week of zero-degree weather will expose us to significant price increases.”

If any periods of extreme cold are expected this winter, Flaherty said that ratepayers will be informed about price increases and limits to the energy supply, and may be asked to turn down their heat as low as they reasonably can.

He touted Westfield Gas & Electric’s relatively low rates for residential use compared to other utility companies. WG&E’s supply as of Dec. 17 was 7.2 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to 29 cents at National Grid and 25 cents at Eversource. Regardless, he said that he knows ratepayers in Westfield have felt the sting of increasing energy prices, with a 25 percent increase in rates from last year.

The unpredictable energy situation has raised questions about the possibility of rolling blackouts, which Flaherty said would be an extreme response to an extreme situation.

“Rolling blackouts would require a particularly severe winter,” said Flaherty, “If it comes to that, there are extreme, major problems outside of Westfield’s control.”

Westfield Gas & Electric has some tools to keep energy prices from growing completely out of control in the event of extreme cold. The company’s stabilization account is currently worth $10 million for natural gas, and $28 million for electricity. Flaherty said that those funds would be used to keep local rates within 5 percent of the state average during a spike in prices. Currently, Flaherty said that their rates have averaged about 10 percent below that of the state average in the last five years. The last time that fund needed to be tapped was the winter of 2014 into 2015, when they needed it for natural gas prices.