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PECO Lowering Natural Gas Rates Nearly 19% Dec. 1
PECO will lower its natural gas rate by 18.8 percent for its 484,000 natural gas customers in the Philadelphia suburbs, effective December 1. An average residential heating customer uses 160 ccf (or hundreds of cubic feet) per month during the heating season. PECO said its rate decrease will save customers almost $50 in December, compared with the current gas rate ($261.58 for 160 ccf down to $213.43, including taxes and other monthly charges). Actual usage depends on a customer’s billing cycle, weather, the size of the home and its energy efficiency, and the number of gas appliances in the house, such as heater, water heater, laundry and kitchen appliances, and fireplace.
Now with this decrease combined with another cut September 1, PECO’s natural gas rate will be virtually the same as last December. Natural gas wholesale prices spiked last winter through June, causing gas rates for local consumers to rise from $1.28 per ccf (the unit of measurement on most customer bills) to $1.68 per ccf in June.
For energy saving information and payment options, consumers should visit www.peco.com/save. For more information about natural gas or energy prices generally, visit www.aga.org or www.eia.doe.gov.
Mark Alden, PECO vice president, Gas, said the company buys wholesale natural gas in a variety of ways to manage its overall supply costs and mitigate market volatility for customers. “We are pleased to reduce our gas rate for customers at a time when gas usage increases with the colder weather. Natural gas provides great value as the clean, efficient fuel of choice for home heating, cooking and other uses,” he said. “We encourage any customer who needs help with managing their utility costs to contact us, so we can help.”
PECO said the new rate reflects recent gas costs as well as projected costs for buying gas on behalf of its customers through November 2009. (The “purchased gas cost”, PGC, covers three line items on a customer’s bill – the natural gas supply charge, the balancing service charge, and gas cost adjustment.)
The company plans to file the gas rate adjustment with the Public Utility Commission (PUC) later this week. This gas rate change does not affect PECO’s electric rates. PECO’s electric rates are expected to remain the same in 2009 and 2010, under agreements with the state PUC, which reviews and approves utility rates.
Unlike gasoline, oil or propane dealers, PECO can only adjust the PGC portion of its gas rate each quarter, if necessary, to reflect changes in the commodity market prices. The charges are a pass through without any utility markup. The PGC represents roughly three-quarters of the total bill, while PECO’s customer service and delivery charges cover the remainder.
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