Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Another utility seeks to raise rates
The Florida Public Service Commission is scheduled to vote on the request by Peoples Gas System on Tuesday.
By LOUIS HAU
Published September 30, 2005
Peoples Gas System is seeking permission to pass along the rising cost of natural gas to its customers, a move that could increase the monthly bill of an average household by more than 25 percent.
The request from Peoples comes on the heels of similar requests from electric utilities, including Progress Energy Florida and Peoples' fellow TECO Energy subsidiary Tampa Electric. Peoples, the state's largest gas provider, serves more than 300,000 customers throughout Florida, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties.
State regulators don't set specific rates for gas utilities as they do for electric utilities. Rather, they impose a cap on how much a gas company can charge customers for fuel.
Peoples is asking for permission to raise the cap on the fuel component of its monthly rate from 99 cents per therm to $1.50. For an average residential customer using 20 therms of natural gas a month, the increase would raise a monthly bill from $38.20 to up to $48.40. That would amount to a jump of about 27 percent.
The Florida Public Service Commission is scheduled to vote on Peoples' request on Tuesday. If approved, the higher cap would take effect immediately and would be in place for three months. The PSC is scheduled to vote in November on a separate request by the company to keep the higher cap in place through the end of 2006.
Kandi Floyd, manager of state regulatory affairs for Peoples, said the company plans to charge customers the maximum fuel charge allowed in October. She said the company will adjust customers' bills accordingly if natural gas prices fall.
"If there's an opportunity to reduce it from the cap of $1.50, we will adjust it," she said. "It just depends on how the market moves."
-- Louis Hau can be reached at 813 226-3404 or hau@sptimes.com
[Last modified September 30, 2005, 16:56:01]
Share your thoughts on this story
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor