PGW Gas-Cost Rate Cut Could Reduce Monthly Bills By $3
By Stephanie Farr, Philadelphia Daily News
Mar. 5–Customers of Philadelphia Gas Works could see a slight reduction in their gas bills come September.
If the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approves a PGW request submitted March 1 to reduce the company’s annual gas-cost rate by $16.3 million, the average resident would see about a $3 decrease in monthly bills, PGW spokeswoman Trish Cole said.
A resident of a two-story rowhouse typically uses 92,000 cubic feet of natural gas a year, and gets an average bill of $148.34, Cole said. That bill would be reduced by 1.6 percent to $145.89, she said.
Commercial customers are expected to see a 1.8 percent reduction and municipal service customers would see a 2 percent reduction, a PGW news release said.
“Commercial and municipal customers see a greater reduction because they use a lot more natural gas,” Cole said.
PGW is required by the commission to file its annual gas-cost rate in March, forecasting what the company expects to pay for gas in the coming year. Quarterly adjustment filings are made in June, September and December, Cole said.
“We’re also required to notify all of our customers,” she said. “This month we have an insert that goes into the bill to let all of our customers know we are filing this and expect a rate decrease in September.”
But rate decreases are far from stable. The last rate decrease was in September 2007, when the gas-cost rate — the amount for 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas — was decreased from $10.73 to $10.11. By December, that rate had increased to $10.58. The current projected reduction would bring the $10.58 rate down to $10.26, Cole said.
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