SALT LAKE CITY— Questar Gas announced Monday that the utility is requesting an increase in its Utah natural gas rates.
If approved by the Public Service Commission of Utah, the monthly bill for the typical residential customer will increase by about $4.30 beginning June 1.
“Extremely cold weather this past winter put more upward pressure on natural gas prices,” said Craig Wagstaff, Questar Gas executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Prices are expected to remain higher throughout the summer due to continuing demand for gas as suppliers replenish storage in preparation for next winter."
Approximately every six months, Questar Gas files gas-cost adjustments to cover costs of buying natural gas for its customers. Gas costs are passed on to customers with no markup and therefore have no impact on the utility’s profits. The “pass-through” adjustments simply enable the company to change rates to reflect changes in gas-supply costs. These filings also regularly include other adjustments for balancing accounts.
“Even after this increase, our customers should still be paying less to heat their homes than they were in 2005,” Wagstaff said. “Our rates are consistently among the lowest in the United States and should remain so even after this increase."
— Jasen Lee