A California regulator on Thursday ordered utility companies to give customers a credit to lower home heating bills “as soon as possible” instead of later in the spring because of high natural gas prices. The California Public Utilities Commission’s move to speed up the delivery of the Climate Credit instead of waiting until April could knock $91 to $121 off the next bill for customers who receive both electricity and natural gas from Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Company.(Previous coverage in video above.)Customers of Bear Valley Liberty, PacificCorp and Southwest Gas will also get their credit sped up.You can see the specific amounts of the credits here. For example, in the case of PG&E residential customers who receive electrical service would get $38.39. Natural gas customers would get $52.78 from PG&E.SMUD customers would not receive a credit because the CPUC doesn’t regulate public utilities.PG&E told KCRA 3 last week that customer bills, on average, are 32% higher right now than they were at this time last year because of high demand and tighter supply. One resident in West Sacramento said his bill has skyrocketed to $662, with more than $400 going toward gas. That was up from $200 combined the previous month.The CPUC said that when the price of gas goes up, it is passed on directly to customers.“Natural gas prices throughout the West have risen to alarming levels this winter,” CPUC President Alice Reynolds said in a statement. “Advancing the California Climate Credit will provide immediate relief to California families struggling to pay their bills while we examine this critical issue and explore longer-term solutions to volatile natural gas prices.”What is the California Climate Credit?Every April and October for PG&E customers and other utility customers in California, there is a climate credit on their bills, for both gas and electric usage.The credit comes from a state program that requires power plants and industries that emit greenhouse gases to buy carbon pollution permits. Customers’ shares of the payments from the program are given back via their bills several times a year.A CPUC spokesperson confirmed that with the credit being sped up, customers will not receive another one in April.