As some Philly-area gas customers get a rate hike, others will see bills drop again
The drop comes from Peco's suburban customers as gas bills are expected to decrease across the country this winter, even if the temperature is colder than last year.
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About half a million Peco gas customers in the Philadelphia suburbs should see lower gas bills this winter due to a decrease in the supply charge effective Friday.
The supply charge — which makes up about half of a customer’s bill, depending on usage — is set to drop 29% as of Dec. 1, Peco announced Thursday. That means the overall bill for residential customers who receive default service will decline a little more than $18 a month on average, or by about 9%, the utility estimates.
“The impacts of inflation and increased costs of everyday goods and services are top of mind for our customers, and we are so pleased to be able to lower these rates ahead of the winter season,” Kelly Colarelli, Peco’s vice president of customer operations, said in a statement.
For the company’s gas customers, this marks the fourth quarterly decrease in supply charge, which fluctuates with the market and represents exactly what the utility pays for a customer’s energy usage, without a profit margin.
Meanwhile, about 1.2 million Peco electric customers in the region will see their bills get about $5 cheaper a month on average, also effective Friday. At the same time, 500,000 Philadelphia Gas Works customers will see their rates increase about 14%, after the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved a smaller revenue increase than the city-owned utility had requested.
Last winter, the region’s gas customers were among those who saw particularly high heating bills. This year, as market conditions have stabilized, gas bills are expected to decline across the country, including in the Northeast, even if the weather is colder. Electric bills are projected to increase slightly in the Northeast.