West Virginia natural gas utilities request to lower purchased gas portion of rates
Natural gas utilities in West Virginia, which serve over 95 percent of natural gas customers in the state, recently filed requests with the Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) to reduce the purchased gas portion of their rates.
Mountaineer Gas Company filed for a decrease of 3.95 percent, Hope Gas/Dominion Energy filed for a decrease of 5.03 percent, Lumberport-Shinnston Gas filed for a decrease of 5.9 percent, and Peoples Gas filed for a decrease of 4.8 percent.
Gas utilities are legally permitted to recover the costs of gas purchases. Each year, a Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA) proceeding adjusts customers rates according to the cost of gas. The PGA is an estimate of the prices utilities are expected to pay their suppliers for natural gas as well as a “true up” of actual costs from the previous year. The PGA does not include profits for the utility.
The PSC is expecting lower gas utility bills across the state following an initial review of the PGA cases filed.
