PGW's rate-hike request cut 58%

Philadelphia Gas Works won approval for a rate hike that was less than half what the company sought, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said today.

The change will raise the monthly bill for a typical customer by $3.58, or 2.72 percent, instead of the requested increase of $8.45, or 6.5 percent. A typical customer was defined as one using 92,000 cubic feet of natural gas each month.

The new rate, approved 5-0 by the commissioners, will increased PGW's annual revenue by $16 million, or 1.8 percent, instead of the $42.5 million, or 4.8 percent, that the city-owned utility requested in December.

PGW, which serves 500,000 customers, mostly residential, also agreed not to seek another rate increase for the cost of delivering gas for two years, to change its program for low-income customers to promote energy conservation, and to waive security deposits for some low-income customers.    - Paul Schweizer