National Fuel natural gas bills to drop
Jan. 31—Customers of National Fuel Gas will pay much less for natural gas, starting Wednesday.
National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp. has submitted its quarterly adjustment to gas supply charges to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
The adjustment, effective Wednesday, lowers the monthly bill of a typical residential customer by $11.17 a month — from $108.36 to $97.19. It's a drop of about 11.5 percent. It's based on a customer with annual usage of 102,800 cubic feet of natural gas.
The rate adjustment is primarily due to lower market prices for natural gas, which have decreased the cost of natural gas supplies that National Fuel purchases for customers.
Under Pennsylvania PUC regulations, gas supply costs are passed along to customers on a dollar for dollar basis, with no mark-up or profit.
Pennsylvania utility companies are permitted to update gas supply charges on a quarterly basis to reflect changes in the market price of natural gas. National Fuel's next opportunity to adjust gas supply charges is May 1.
National Fuel's price-to-compare gas commodity charge also will decrease to $0.75471 per 100 cubic feet (ccf). The reference point, detailed on the National Fuel bill under Gas Supply Charges, is important for customers who shop for an alternate gas supplier.
