Total bill for residential customers would increase by 4.6 percent

Because of higher prices charged by natural gas producers, PPL Gas Utilities has asked the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to approve an increase in the gas-cost portion of customers’ bills. The increase would become effective March 1.

The request would increase residential customers’ total bills by 4.6 percent. Natural gas bills have two main parts: the cost of the gas itself and the cost of delivering gas to customers through pipelines.

“PPL Gas Utilities purchases the natural gas our customers use and we monitor gas prices daily, looking to buy at the lowest available prices,” said Robert M Geneczko, president of PPL Gas Utilities. “Thankfully, even with an increase in the price charged by suppliers, natural gas remains a good value compared with other fuel sources.”

“Our goal is to shield our customers as much as possible from price spikes,” Geneczko said. “We understand that higher prices increase costs for our customers so we offer programs and services to help.”

PPL Gas Utilities also has a budget billing program that enables customers to spread costs over the entire year.

The gas-cost portion, which represents about 60 percent of the total gas bill, may be adjusted quarterly based on short-term price changes in natural gas supply. PPL Gas Utilities does not produce natural gas; it purchases the gas its customers use, mainly from suppliers on the Gulf Coast.

Starting March 1, the gas supply charge increases by 7.7 percent, while the charge for delivering gas remains the same, resulting in the 4.6-percent increase in the total gas bill.

The monthly bill for a typical residential customer using 7 dekatherms of natural gas increases from $115.78 to $121.10.

The total bill of typical commercial and industrial customers would increase by 5.7 percent and 6.1 percent respectively.

PPL Gas Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), provides natural gas delivery service to 76,000 homes and businesses in 34 Pennsylvania counties and a small portion of Maryland.