Dominion Energy Utah is requesting an $82.7 million decrease in its Utah natural gas rates. If the request is approved by the Public Service Commission of Utah (PSC), the decrease will lower the typical residential customer’s annual bill by about $60 beginning June 1.
"This rate decrease is due to lower gas-production costs of company-owned supplies, tax reform savings and the lower cost of market gas purchases for Utah customers," said Colleen Larkin Bell, vice president and general manager of Dominion Energy Utah. “As a result, our rates continue to be among the lowest in the nation.”
At least twice a year, Dominion Energy and the PSC use third-party forecasts of natural gas prices to estimate how much the utility’s rates should be adjusted to cover anticipated costs of buying natural gas for its customers, Bell said. These costs are passed on to customers with no markup and 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 and other costs.
Dominion Energy Utah is a subsidiary of Virginia-based Dominion Energy and provides natural gas service to 1 million Utah homes and businesses.