Oct. 31-- Oct. 31--Natural gas rates will be on the rise starting Friday.
Customers of Cascade Natural Gas, which serves more than 220,000 customers in Walla Walla and 67 other Washington communities, will have a 10.8 % increase in rates, according to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.
Rates for the typical residential customer using 55 therms a month will increase about $5.17. That makes an average residential bill of $53.23 at that usage level.
Cascade filed for the increase in September. The company originally sought a larger increase that would have equated to a $7.04-per-month jump for the average residential user of 55 therms.
The increase will be felt by natural gas customers across the state.
Higher energy bills will also increase starting Friday for customers of Avista, NW Natural and Puget Sound Energy. Last winter's colder temperatures combined with a 2018 gas pipeline explosion in British Columbia are among the reasons for the increases, said the UTC, the body that regulates private, investor-owned natural gas utilities in the state.
The rate increases were approved Oct. 24.
Cascade's increases are largely attributed to the purchased gas cost adjustment connected to the wholesale market, and decoupling mechanisms. The cost of gas purchases are a direct pass-on to customers. Companies do not profit from or lose money on the purchases.
The new rates also reflect recovery for pipeline replacement, conservation programs, low-income assistance, and refunds related to excess deferred income taxes associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Wholesale natural gas prices increased, in part, because of the October 2018 Enbridge Pipeline rupture. That event disrupted natural gas markets through the Pacific Northwest, the UTC said in its announcement.
About half of the state's natural gas supplies come from British Columbia and Alberta. Imports at the hub served by the Enbridge Pipeline had averaged 1.1 billion cubic feet per day in the first half of 2018. But after the Oct. 9 rupture, that number fell to zero for a day.
Although repairs were completed by the end of that month, capacity delays continued through winter.
Vicki Hillhouse can be reached at vickihillhouse@wwub.com or 509-526-8321.
Source: INACTIVE-Tribune Regional
(October 31, 2019 - 2:34 PM EDT)
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