Is Gold Flowing in Our Pipes? Chelyabinsk Residents Fume Over January Bills

Chelyabinsk residents have complained about a sharp increase in heating costs in January. City residents have sent in receipts showing charges for heat that are one and a half to two times higher than in December, even though the first month of winter wasn«t very warm. We asked energy companies where such huge charges come from.

«People are literally in shock!»

Residents from all districts of Chelyabinsk have noticed the obvious difference in bills for January and previous months. Unpleasant figures in payment slips have been found by apartment owners in both new and old buildings.

«The heating bills that came for January were very surprising. Instead of 8–9%, it seems they added up to 30%. If the bill for December was 4567 rubles (approximately $46 at current rates), then for January it came to 5937 rubles (about $59 at current rates),» shared one reader of the site. «And we»re expecting another more significant increase in the summer. People are literally in shock!«

«The receipts for January came – heating was charged at 4358 rubles (about $44 at current rates) for a one-and-a-half-room apartment. In December it was 3080 rubles (about $31 at current rates). And it»s not like the house is hot; we walk around in sweaters. What is this, exponential price growth?« outraged Oksana, living at Zakharenko, 9 (Chelyabinsk). »No one can answer this question – not the housing office, not other authorities. They pass the buck to each other.«

According to residents of building No. 101 on Komsomolsky Prospekt, the heating fee jumped by over a thousand rubles in January.

And their neighbors in the North-West saw the cost of heating double immediately (!).

«In December we paid 5400 rubles (about $54 at current rates), and now they sent a bill for 11,500 rubles (about $115 at current rates),» indicated Maxim, a resident of the building at 40-letiya Pobedy, 29v (Chelyabinsk). «Even though everywhere it was published that the increase would be no more than 10–15%! We have a building-wide meter. Of course, we guessed that due to the cold in January the bill would be larger. But we thought, around 6-7 thousand.»

«In October we paid 2700 rubles (about $27 at current rates), in December – five something thousand, in January – 8200 rubles (about $82 at current rates). Some unreal amounts!» horrified Angelina – owner of an apartment on Rossiyskaya, 73 (Chelyabinsk). «I always pay in full, without delays. At »USTEK« they say: »We calculated based on the readings the management company provided.«

«Houses with meters consumed more heat»

Why January turned out to be especially «expensive» for houses with metering devices was explained by «Uralenergosbyt» (Ural Energy Sales Company, which acts as an agent for the heat supplier «USTEK-Chelyabinsk» and handles calculations).

«In apartment buildings, the amount of the heating fee depends on the calculation method. If the building is equipped with a building-wide metering device, residents pay for the actual heat consumed: the colder it is outside, the more thermal energy the building requires and the higher the amount on the receipt,» the company reminded. «If there is no meter, the fee is calculated according to the established norm (number of gigacalories per square meter). In this case, the outdoor temperature does not affect the amount of charges – the sum remains the same from month to month.»

If the building-wide metering device breaks down, the heating fee is determined based on the calculated average monthly consumption volume (according to rules No. 354) with adjustment for the actual air temperature.

Energy companies named two main reasons for the increase in heating amounts in payment documents in January.

«First – abnormally cold weather. The average temperature for January 2026 was -16.8°C (1.8°F). For comparison: in December 2025, the average temperature was -7.1°C (19.2°F). Such a frosty January in our region was last observed in 2018. Due to severe cold, houses with meters consumed more heat, which was reflected in the payment documents,» noted the press service of the company «Uralenergosbyt». «The second reason – tariff growth. From January 1, 2026, a new tariff for thermal energy set by the regulatory body is in effect in the city – 2,184.44 rubles/Gcal (approximately $21.84/Gcal at current rates), whereas in December 2025 it was 2,148.63 rubles/Gcal (about $21.49/Gcal at current rates).»

The volume of consumption is also influenced by the condition of the intra-building heating system, the presence of insulation, and energy-saving measures. These issues are within the responsibility of the management company or homeowners association, added «Uralenergosbyt».

The company also responded to complaints from residents of buildings who sent their payment slips to the editorial office:

ul. Zakharenko, 9: in December 2025 consumption 332.55 Gcal, in January 2026 – 446.15 Gcal, calculations – based on average;

Komsomolsky Prospekt, 101: in December 2025 – 984.36 Gcal, in January 2026 – 1183.69 Gcal, calculations – based on readings of the building-wide metering device (ODPU);

ul. Rossiyskaya, 73: in December 2025 – 260.85 Gcal, in January 2026 – 347.06 Gcal, calculations – based on readings of ODPU.

Who has more?

Not only Chelyabinsk residents but also residents of the region are complaining about unaffordable heat bills. In the VK group «Tekeler, help!» South Ural residents are «comparing» who has higher charges.

«Please tell me, city of Zlatoust (Chelyabinsk Oblast), metallurgical plant district, what, do we have gold flowing in the pipes instead of heating? »Chelyaboblkommunenergo« issued a bill for January of 10,400 rubles (about $104 at current rates)! What kind of prices are these? There are no debts for heating, this is 2,500 rubles (about $25 at current rates) more than last month!» writes Natalya.

She is «calmed» by Yulia from the village of Kizilskoye (Chelyabinsk Oblast): «This is very cheap. We have 6800 rubles (about $68 at current rates) for 43 sq. m, and it was 5700 rubles (about $57 at current rates).»

«Only for heating for January – 7775 rubles (about $78 at current rates) (43.9 sq. m)! Complete trash, no decent words,» outrages Elena from the settlement of Uvelsky (Chelyabinsk Oblast).

Alina from the settlement of Krasnoye Pole (Chelyabinsk Oblast) retorts: «A two-room apartment 43.2 sq. m – 8200 rubles (about $82 at current rates).»

Where to complain

To check the charges, residents can contact the State Housing Inspection. An important point – the basis for organizing control and supervision measures are only appeals that allow establishing the identity of the applicant.

Complaints to the State Housing Inspection can be sent:

in person at the addresses of the Main Directorate and subdivisions of the State Housing Inspection;

by mail;

through the state information system for housing and communal services GIS Housing and Communal Services;

through the electronic reception on the website of the government of Chelyabinsk Oblast;

through the electronic reception on the official website of the State Housing Inspection.

Also, in the State Housing Inspection of Chelyabinsk Oblast, a «hotline» has been organized, you can call the multichannel number: 8-800-302-94-82. Calls are accepted daily, the «hotline» operates from 8:30 to 17:30 (on Fridays until 16:15), an operator answers with redirection of the call to specialists, depending on the topic of the question.

Recall that from July 1, 2025, the cost of utility services in Chelyabinsk increased by an average of 19.9%. We show how individual resources became more expensive – heating, electricity, gas, cold and hot water, wastewater disposal, and garbage removal.

In 2026, in Chelyabinsk Oblast, the cost of utility services will be indexed twice. From January 1 – due to the increase in VAT (from 20 to 22 %), from October 1 – the traditional annual increase in tariffs, in Chelyabinsk – by an average of 14.6%. We published new rates for heating, light, water, gas, garbage.