National Fuel Rate Hike begins Tuesday

The Pennsylvania division of National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation (National Fuel) has announced a quarterly adjustment to Gas Supply Charges effective February 1, 2011.  This increase raises the monthly bill of a typical residential customer in northwestern Pennsylvania using ninety-five thousand cubic feet annually from $82.93 to $84.22 or by 1.6 percent.  This adjustment will bring the National Fuel Price to Compare to $6.7189 per thousand cubic feet.  This is important for those customers who are shopping for an alternate gas supplier.

“This increase is based on recent marketplace forecasts of the price of natural gas,” said Nancy Taylor, Senior Manager of Corporate Communications.  As is the practice for all Pennsylvania utilities, National Fuel projects annual natural gas prices and then performs quarterly reconciliation of actual costs against what had been estimated.  National Fuel is required by law to pass any increase or decrease in Gas Supply Charges on to customers with no mark-up or profit.

Pennsylvania utility companies are permitted to update Gas Supply Charges on a quarterly basis to reflect actual changes in market prices and to pass these costs on to customers.  The Gas Supply Charge also includes all the charges the Company must pay to transport and store gas for its customers.  As a result, the Gas Supply Charges on a customer’s bill will never exactly match the spot market price of gas, which reflects only the current daily price of the commodity.

Utility companies do not set market gas prices and are required to pass these costs on to customers on a dollar-for-dollar basis in the Gas Supply Charge.  This differs from the Delivery Service Charges, which represent the utility’s cost of doing business and providing safe, reliable service to customers.  Delivery Service Charges are regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and have remained the same for National Fuel’s customers in Pennsylvania since January 2007.

Customers are reminded that National Fuel offers a number of programs to help those who are having trouble paying their bills.  To find out more about those programs, customers are invited to call National Fuel at 1-800-365-3234 or visit the Company’s web site at www.nationalfuelgas.com.

National Fuel serves approximately 214,000 customers in 14 counties in northwestern Pennsylvania.