PPL Gas requests increase

Because of higher prices charged by natural gas producers, PPL Gas Utilities on Friday (5/30) asked the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to approve an increase in the gas-cost portion of customers’ bills.
The new rate, $11.01 per dekatherm, applies to gas use beginning Sunday (6/1). Under the new rate, a residential customer who uses 7 dekatherms per month will see a 6.3 percent increase in the total bill, from $115.59 to $122.84. The total bill of typical commercial and industrial customers would increase by 7.7 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.
“Because we purchase all of the natural gas we need from suppliers on the open market, our costs are subject to the same well-documented increases that buyers have seen in fuel prices,” said Robert M. Geneczko, president of PPL Gas Utilities.
“We monitor natural gas prices daily in an effort to buy for our customers at the lowest available prices, much as motorists look around as they are driving for the best available prices among local gas stations,” he said.
Natural gas bills have two main parts: the cost of the gas itself and the cost of delivering gas to customers through pipelines. The gas-cost portion, which represents about two-thirds of customers’ total gas bill, is reconciled annually and may be adjusted quarterly based on short-term price changes in natural gas supply.
PPL Gas Utilities makes no profit on the gas-cost portion of the bill. By law, it must pass through gas-cost charges without markup. PPL Gas Utilities makes its money on the gas delivery portion of the bill, which is about one-third of the total bill.
“Higher natural gas costs can create hardships for our customers, so we offer programs and services to help,” Geneczko said. “Through our budget billing program, customers can spread the costs over the entire year. In addition, PPL Gas Utilities is providing more than $1.2 million this year through a variety of programs to assist low-income customers.”
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.