Approved rate hikes for Duquesne Light, Columbia Gas lower than initially sought

Duquesne Light Co. and Columbia Gas Co. of Pennsylvania customers in the region will pay more for electricity and natural gas next year, but less than the utilities wanted under a settlement approved by state regulators Thursday.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission unanimously approved a settlement with Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Light that will raise the bill of the average residential customer using 600 kilowatt hours per month of electricity by $4.23 per month, or 4.23%.

The new rate the PUC approved, which takes effect Jan. 15, allows for Duquesne Light company to get a $74.2 million increase in annual operating revenues from raising its electric distribution rates, significantly lower than the $115 million it initially wanted.

Had the PUC approved Duquesne Light’s initial request for an increase in electrical distribution rates, the average user among the company’s 590,000 customers in parts of Allegheny and Beaver counties would have seen a $7.73 hike in their monthly bill. It will be the first rate hike for Duquesne Light since 2018, the company said.

The base rate settlement approved with Columbia Gas, which serves about 436,000 customers in parts of 26 counties in Western, Northwestern and Central Pennsylvania, will raise the monthly rates of customers using 70 therms a month from $100.80 to $109, the PUC said. A therm is a unit that measures heat that is equal to 100,000 British thermal units.

The rate hike, effective Dec. 29, will increase Columbia Gas’ annual revenue by $58 million.

Columbia Gas originally sought a rate hike that would have increased its annual revenue by about $98 million, which would have raised the average monthly bill to $115 for the same usage.

Even with the rate hike, Columbia Gas said the average total bill for a residential customer will be about 26% lower than it was in 2001, when adjusted for inflation.

The settlements for both Columbia Gas and Duquesne Light had previously been approved by the PUC’s Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement, the state offices of Consumer Advocate and Small Business Advocate and the Pennsylvania Weatherization Providers Task Force.

Duquesne Light also agreed to contribute an additional $1 million per year to the utility’s hardship fund for the next two years. It will increase the maximum household income eligible for the hardship fund program during that period – with a special emphasis on consumers who are at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.

Duquesne Light will also increase annual funding for its Low Income Usage Reduction Program by $400,000 per year, for the next four years.