$4-a-month natural gas hike approved

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Updated: February 14, 2012 10:18AM

The Illinois Citizens Utility Board says it will appeal the $68 million rate hike approved for People’s Gas and Waukegan-based North Shore Gas.

The Illinois Commerce Commission on Wednesday approved the rate hike — not much more than half of the natural gas provider’s original request for a $125 million boost to cover delivery costs.

But based on the original rate-hike request’s impact, the ICC action appears to show that People’s Gas/North Shore Gas customers would pay slightly more than $4 extra each month, or $48 a year.

The original increase would have amounted to an additional $9 a month, or $108 more a year, for a typical residential customer.

People’s Gas requested the increase last year to cover rising expenses in delivering natural gas at a time of declining sales. The latest increase is on top of a People’s Gas rate increase of $48 a year that went into effect in early 2010.

“Chicagoland gas customers are struggling in a tough economy,” said CUB Executive Director David Kolata. “The rate increase comes at the worst possible time for consumers, hitting bills in the heart of the Chicago winter.”

The ICC gave permission for the new rates to become effective in mid-January.

Kolata said “delivery” rate hikes increase what the companies charge to deliver gas to homes. Those charges take up about a third of a gas bill. The other two-thirds, roughly, is taken up by the price of the actual natural gas.