For the third quarter in a row, PPL Gas Utilities has lowered rates for its 75,000 natural gas distribution customers. The Purchased Gas Cost Rate component of customer bills was reduced by 44 cents, effective Dec. 1.
"Our customers continue to benefit from the lower prices we have been paying in recent months for natural gas supply," said Robert M. Geneczko, president of PPL Gas Utilities.
The effect of the rate reduction will vary depending on how much gas customers use. Typical residential customers who use 9 dekatherms of gas a month will see a reduction of $3.97 on their total gas bill, from $106.64 to $102.67.
A dekatherm is a measure of the heat energy in natural gas. PPL Gas Utilities bills show how many dekatherms customers use each month.
Commercial customers of PPL Gas Utilities using 34 dekatherms a month will see their total monthly gas bill decrease by nearly $15. Industrial customers using 237 dekatherms a month will see a reduction of more than $104 on their total monthly gas bill.
Natural gas distribution companies adjust their Purchased Gas Cost Rate annually on Dec. 1. The Purchased Gas Cost Rate reflects prices PPL Gas Utilities pays to buy, transport and store natural gas for its customers.
Each quarter, gas companies adjust their supply charge based on the price they pay to buy natural gas. The supply charge is a pass-through to customers. Gas companies make no profit on the natural gas they buy to supply their customers’ needs.
"Gas suppliers charged prices last winter that were much higher than historic levels. Those increases were passed along to consumers in their gas bills," Geneczko noted. Gas supply prices peaked in the first quarter of 2001.
When gas supply prices began dropping, PPL Gas Utilities reduced the Gas Supply Charge component of customers’ bills in both July and October.
As a result of the three price cuts this year, the average residential customer of PPL Gas Utilities has seen a reduction of 13.3 percent on his or her total gas bill between March and December.
PPL Gas Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation, serves customers in parts of 34 Pennsylvania counties.