Residential heating bills to increase 10% Nov. 1

THE R.I. PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION approved new natural gas rates that translate to an average 9% increase in residential monthly heating bills starting Nov. 1/COURTESY PPL CORP.

WARWICK – Heating bills are about to rise, but not by as much as originally expected.

Instead, the Nov. 1 hikes to natural gas rates will be partially offset by a one-time, $64.15 credit to all Rhode Island Energy gas customers unanimously approved by state regulators on Friday. 

The credit, funded by $17.5 million of the state settlement with R.I. Energy parent company PPL Corp., helps to offset higher natural gas prices due to increasing demand and market volatility.

Under the rates approved by the R.I. Public Utilities Commission, the average residential customer who uses 845 therms of heat will see a 9.6% increase  – or $12.16 – in their monthly gas bills according to updated filings to the commission.

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Originally, residential gas customers would have seen bill increases of 15% – or $19 –  a month, but that was before the bill credits and updated pricing forecasts were applied.

Low-income residential customers who qualify for federal assistance programs will see further relief with the elimination of the monthly $14 gas service charge for January through March, approved under a separate, 2-0 vote of the commission, with one abstention. Taken together with the bill credits, low-income ratepayers can expect to see their average monthly bills increase by 5% according to Commission Chairman Ronald Gerwatowski.

Gerwatowski proposed the service charge suspension based on a similar measure the commission took last month to offset electric bill hikes for low-income customers. While the gas rate hikes are not nearly as high as the increases in electric rates, they are “still impactful,” particularly for lower-income ratepayers, Gerwatowski said.

Commissioner Abigail Anthony abstained from the vote on the service charge suspension, saying she did not have enough information since none of the commission or utility company consultants had reviewed this idea.

Commercial and industrial gas customers, who will also receive the one-time bill credits from the PPL settlement, will see average monthly bills increase 9-16%, depending on usage, according to filings submitted to the commission.

The new gas rates come on the heels of historic winter electric rate increases which took effect Oct. 1.

Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.

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