Customers of PPL Gas Utilities will pay about half a percent more for natural gas service starting Sept. 1 because of a change in the Gas Supply Charge component of their bills.

"Even with this slight increase, amounting to pennies a month for most of our residential customers, the total bill for a typical residential customer is 17.5 percent less than it was 18 months ago," noted Robert M. Geneczko, president of PPL Gas Utilities Corporation.

The Gas Supply Charge, which utilities may adjust quarterly, represents the cost of buying the gas that customers use. The charge had been reduced in each of the last five quarters.

"The Gas Supply Charge reflects our actual costs," Geneczko said. "State regulation prohibits gas utilities from making a profit on the gas they buy for customers."

Effective Sept. 1, the charge will increase about 4 cents to $4.55 per dekatherm. A dekatherm is a measure of the heat energy in natural gas. Customers’ bills show how many dekatherms they use each month.

The total gas bill for a residential customer who uses 8 dekatherms a month will be $89.00, an increase of 34 cents (0.4 percent). Actual bills will vary depending on how much gas customers use.

Total gas bills for typical commercial and industrial customers will increase by about 0.5 percent.

PPL Gas Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation, serves about 75,000 customers in parts of 34 counties across Pennsylvania through its gas utility subsidiaries PFG Gas and North Penn Gas.