The state Public Utility Commission has scheduled two hearings on July 8th on a request by Columbia Gas for a 17.54 percent rate increase, which the company says will be used to replace its aging underground infrastructure. Columbia serves 433,000 customers in 26 Pennsylvania counties, including Indiana County.
Under the company’s proposal, the average residential customer’s monthly gas bill for seventy thermal units of gas would go from $87.57 to $103.19.
The state Office of the Consumer Advocate claims the rate increase “may be unjust and unreasonable”. Furthermore, in a formal complaint filed last month, Acting Consumer Advocate Tanya McCloskey says the company’s current rates may be unjust and is asking the PUC to not only review the rate increase, but to set whatever relief it deems necessary from the current rates.
The PUC hearings on July 8th will be by telephone at 1 PM and 6 PM.
Signing Up for the Hearings
Individuals who wish to testify at the telephonic public input hearings must contact the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate toll free at 1-800-684-6560 by Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at 10 a.m. On the day of the hearings, consumers will testify in the order they signed up.
If you do not wish to testify, but want to listen to the public input hearings, you may do so by accessing the links:
Upon accessing the above links, you will be able to listen but your voice will be muted during the public input hearing.
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