PGW, Peco gas customers to see lower bills soon
More than a million natural gas customers should see their gas bills go down by about $8 a month on average.
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From the city to the suburbs, more than a million Philadelphia-area gas customers may soon see their bills decrease as market prices continue to drop.
Both PGW and Peco announced decreases to their natural-gas supply charges, effective Thursday. The charges typically make up about half of a customer’s bill, depending on household usage.
As a result, residential gas customers should see their gas bills go down by about $8 a month on average.
PGW serves about 500,000 customers in the city, while Peco provides gas to 548,000 customers in the suburbs.
Executives at both utilities said they’d work to keep prioritizing reliability and safety, while keeping costs as low as possible.
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“Natural gas is consistently the most affordable source of energy for our customers,” Seth Shapiro, PGW’s president and CEO said in a statement, “and we are proud of our team’s ability to continue to purchase gas at very competitive prices.”
“We will continue to work hard to control costs, reduce volatility, and purchase electricity and natural gas at the lowest price possible for customers,” said Funmi Williamson, Peco’s senior vice president and chief customer officer.
On the other side of the river, PSE&G asked the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to reduce its supply rate for residential gas customers, which would go into effect Oct. 1 and result in a monthly savings of about $4 on average. PSE&G, New Jersey’s largest electric and gas provider, has more than 5 million residential customers, including some in parts of Camden and Burlington Counties.
The supply charge portion of a bill represents exactly how much the utilities pay suppliers for the amount of energy a customer uses, without a profit margin. They are updated quarterly in Pennsylvania, allowing customers to compare different providers. In New Jersey, gas supply charges are generally updated Oct. 1.
The gas price decrease comes as 1.2 million Peco electric customers are seeing a supply charge increase, resulting in their monthly bills rising by just under $5 on average.