WILKES-BARRE, Pa., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- An administrative law judge has
recommended state Public Utility Commission approval of a base rate case
settlement reached by PG Energy, the PUC's Office of Trial Staff, the Office
of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Small Business Advocate and a number of
industrial intervenors.
The settlement provides PG Energy with a $7.4 million rate increase. PG
Energy filed in March for a $15 million rate increase. Commission action on
the settlement could come later this month. The new rates would go into effect
shortly after Commission approval.
If approved by the Commission, average residential customers who heat with
gas would see their bills increase by 5.1 percent, or $4.08 a month. The
average residential heating customer uses 11,400 cubic feet of natural gas
each month.
Commercial customers using 47,400 cubic feet of natural gas each month
would see their bills increase 1.9 percent a month and industrial users
consuming 120,000 cubic feet of natural gas a month would experience a
0.8 percent increase.
The rate change affects the customer classes differently due to the per-
unit cost of delivering natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial
customers.
According to the proposed settlement and rates charged by Pennsylvania's
other major, investor-owned gas utilities, PG Energy's residential customers,
on average, receive the lowest bills.
"We're pleased with this settlement and we're glad it was reached without
protracted action before the Commission," said Thomas F. Karam, President and
Chief Executive Officer of Pennsylvania Enterprises, Inc., PG Energy's parent
company. "The Office of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Small Business
Advocate, the PUC Office of Trial Staff and the other parties to the case did
a commendable job of safeguarding the consumers' interests and understanding
the escalating cost of delivering natural gas."
"We believe this rate settlement will allow PG Energy to continue its
aggressive program of maintaining and upgrading its 2,200-mile delivery
system," Mr. Karam said.
The $7.4 million annual revenue increase will allow the Company to recover
costs associated with major distribution system additions and improvements,
including over $50 million spent during the last two years on main and service
line installation, replacement and rehabilitation work.
Also contributing to the rate increase are rising operating expenses and
state and federal taxes that will consume $3.3 million, or 44.6 percent, of
the revenues created by the rate increase.
"The diligence with which we are maintaining and improving our delivery
system is helping control costs," Mr. Karam said. He said PG Energy's system
has a 0.52 percent "unaccounted-for" rating. The rating signifies that just
over one-half of 1 percent of the gas that enters PG Energy's distribution
system is not delivered. That was the lowest rating in Pennsylvania in 1997.
The national industry standard for unaccounted-for gas is 2 percent, Mr. Karam
said.
PG Energy is a regulated subsidiary of Pennsylvania Enterprises, Inc.
(NYSE: PNT) (PEI). PG Energy delivers gas to customers in 116 municipalities
in 11 counties. Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport and Bloomsburg are in
the Company's service area.
PG Energy is the parent company of Honesdale Gas Company, a regulated
natural gas distribution company that serves areas of Wayne and Pike counties.
The PUC action does not affect Honesdale Gas Company customers. PG Energy and
Honesdale Gas Company serve about 150,000 customers in 13 counties in
northeastern and central Pennsylvania.
PEI's non-regulated subsidiaries include PEI Power Corporation, Theta Land
Corporation, and PG Energy Services. Keystone Pipeline Services, Inc., is a
subsidiary of PG Energy Services. PG Energy Services markets energy and
energy products in a 26-county area of northeastern and central Pennsylvania
under the name PG Energy PowerPlus. In addition to energy products, PG Energy
PowerPlus markets home and business security systems, fire detection and
environmental hazard monitoring systems and Custom Care, a service maintenance
contract for gas-fired heating equipment and appliances.
PEI news releases are available 24 hours a day by fax machine or by
visiting the Company website at http://www.pnt.com. To receive a faxed copy
of our news release, call 1-800-758-5804 on a touch-tone phone and use PEI's
ID # 684209. Follow the prompted instructions to receive a copy of our most
recent release or a menu of earlier news releases. Company news will be faxed
to you immediately without charge.
SOURCE PG Energy
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Related links:
http://www.pnt.com
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com or
fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 684209
CONTACT:
John J. Hambrose of PG Energy, 717-829-8756
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