Q: When did Peoples Gas System last seek an increase to natural gas base rates?
A: Peoples Gas last sought an increase to customer base rates in 2002.
Q: What has the company done to better serve customers since its last rate increase?
A: Peoples Gas has added approximately 100,000 more customers since its last base rates adjustment in 2002. To reliably serve that additional demand, and to meet new federal requirements, Peoples Gas has invested in the installation or replacement of over 1,500 miles of gas main in the over 200 Florida communities it serves.
The company has also made significant enhancements to its energy efficiency programs, including increased rebates, to help Florida homeowners and businesses purchase and install appliances that use domestically produced natural gas.
Q: What are some of the economic factors that make the proposed rate increase necessary?
A: The efforts of the entire Peoples Gas team to run the business as efficiently as possible have enabled the company to avoid adjusting its base rates for six years, but the costs of delivering natural gas to a growing customer base have soared since the company’s base rates were last addressed. If approved by the FPSC, the average bill for a Peoples Gas residential customer would increase by about 10 percent. Since the most recent adjustment to the company’s base rates, commodities essential to the business, including labor, concrete and steel, have increased by 22 percent, 33 percent and 74 percent respectively.
Q: As a customer, when can I expect to pay a higher base rate, if the company's request to the Florida Public Service Commission is approved?
A: Peoples Gas estimates that new rates, if approved, would be effective in May 2009.
Q: How much would my monthly natural gas bill go up under the new rate?
A: If approved by the Florida Public Service Commission, the average bill for a Peoples Gas residential customer would increase by about 10 percent.
Do you have other questions about your natural gas rates? Send us your feedback, and we’ll do our best to address it on this site, for the benefit of all our customers.
