CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission is trying to lessen the sticker shock of rising natural gas rates for the winter months.
The PSC announced Monday that it has approved what the commission describes as “much lower interim purchased gas cost rates” for the two largest natural gas utilities, Mountaineer Gas and Hope Gas.
Natural gas utilities are allowed to seek money from customers each year on what it has cost the utility to purchase gas. Those costs, which have been relatively low during the past decade, have shot up in the past year with natural gas prices going up significantly.
The natural gas utilities requested significant increases for the winter in their annual filings a few months ago but the PSC put the brakes on the proposals and asked the utilities to suggest other ways to recover the costs. Monday’s announcement is a result of that back and forth.
Mountaineer Gas originally requested a nearly $10.00 increase per Mcf used for residential customers which would raise the average customer’s bill to nearly $200.000 a month, a 38% increase. Instead, the PSC approved a 15% increase. The average customer’s bill will now be about $166.00 a month, about $22 more a month compared to last winter’s rates.
Hope Gas was seeking a 62% in its purchased gas rate which would raised the average customer’s bill from the current $135.51 a month to $219.50 a month. The PSC instead granted a 28% increase which will add about $38 a month to the average customer’s bill.
The PSC pointed out Monday that the rates it approved are interim rates and will be subject to a “true-up” in future cases.
Mountaineer Gas Senior Vice President Moses Skaff told MetroNews earlier this fall the company expected to receive the rest of its increased cost for natural gas next spring.
“What we’re trying to do is to give our customers a break during the high heating seasons that are coming up and then we’re levelizing through the rest of the year,” Skaff said.
The gas distribution companies don’t have a lot of choices, Skaff said.
“This is the best alternative that we could come up because of the price of the gas, the commodity price, that we have to buy at this time,” Skaff said.
Mountaineer and Hope have about 89% of the natural gas customers in West Virginia.