Natural Gas Rates Increase Across the State
Posted on December 10, 2019 by Will Gehrke
Tags, Energy
In November 2019, the Oregon Public Utility Commission conducted a comprehensive review of the price of natural gas for state gas utilities. This year, the price of the natural gas commodity has increased for all three investor-owned utilities operating in Oregon.
Below are the average increases in natural gas rates for residential customers of each utility:
NW Natural: 4.4 percent increase
Avista: 10.7 percent increase
Cascade: 8.3 percent increase
Why have natural gas rates increased?
Natural gas utility rates are comprised of two items: the cost of the natural gas commodity, and the cost to operate the utility. The cost of purchasing gas is the “cost of doing business” for the gas utility, and does not include a profit for the company. Every November, Oregon natural gas utilities update the cost of their gas purchases in a “purchased gas adjustment”. If the cost of natural gas is less than expected, the savings are credited to customers in the following year. If there are increases in the cost of gas during a year, or the gas utility is required to purchase more gas than expected, the additional cost is recovered from customers in the following year. Unfortunately, in 2018, the cost of natural gas was higher than expected, and the gas utilities are temporarily increasing rates for the coming year to recover the higher than expected costs.
To keep up with CUB, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
12/09/19 | 0 Comments | Natural Gas Rates Increase Across the State