Canonsburg-based Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, Inc., asked the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to approve revised rates sot that it may further upgrade ad replace portions of its underground natural gas distribution pipelines.
If approved, the average total bill for a residential customer purchasing 70 therms of gas per month from Columbia Gas would increase from $123.24 to $135.67 per month, roughly a 10.09 percent increase. For small commercial customers, the bill for 150 therms of gas would increase from $205. 73 to $223.51, or an 8.64 percent increase. And for small industrial customers, the rate for 1,316 therms of gas would increase from $1,476.21 to $1,586.33 per month or 7.46 percent.
“Ensuring the continued, long-term safety of our customers and communities we serve is an essential part of our business, and it requires the necessary level of investments to modernize an aging energy infrastructure for our customers’ future energy needs,” said Mark Kempic, Columbia Gas President and Chief Operating Officer. “We also understand that energy efficiency is important to our customers, and this proposal also seeks to provide them with additional energy efficiency options while balancing costs and services to continue delivering on our customer commitments.”
The company said that if the new rates are approved, the average residential customer’s bill in 2022 would still be 10 percent lower than it was 20 years ago when adjusted for inflation. The overall request from the company represents $82.2 million additional revenue annually, which the company said would be spent on helping Columbia Gas’s residential customers reduce their energy consumption, improve efficiency, and conserve resources.