Columbia Gas requests natural gas cost rate decrease
Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania has filed a request with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for a decrease in gas cost rates as of Oct. 1.
The company’s request, if granted by the PUC, would result in an overall rate decrease of $13 million per year, meaning that the total bill for a residential customer who purchases 70 therms of gas from Columbia would decrease 2.41 percent to $89.44 per month.
Columbia Gas’s gas cost rate decrease request is separate from a rate increase it requested on Mar. 16 to adjust its base rates for distribution service, Gierczynski said. That request would result in the average total bill for a residential customer who purchases 70 therms of gas per month increasing 9 percent to $99.88.
Columbia Gas is required by the PUC every spring to file an estimate of what the company’s gas costs are going to be heading into the heating season starting in October, said Lee Gierczynski, communications manager for Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
“Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania passes on the cost of natural gas supplies to the customer, dollar for dollar, without any markup or profit margin,” Gierczynski said, adding that the company cannot make a profit from gas cost under Pennsylvania law. ” … Because gas costs are projected for the year and we do not profit on the sale of natural gas, if we under-collect or over-collect, we will correct that difference with our customers in this annual filing.”
Columbia Gas customers may find out how the company’s request might affect their gas bills by contacting the company at 1-888-460-4332.