Piedmont Natural Gas Co. wants to boost rates. Here’s how much it would cost you.
Charlotte-based Piedmont Natural Gas Co. wants to hike rates for homeowners and businesses beginning in November.
The company said it filed its rate increase request with the N.C. Utilities Commission in Raleigh on Monday.
Here’s what you need to know:
Proposed rate hike: The company wants the commission to approve an overall 10.4% increase in rates for natural gas.
Cost to you: Residential customers would pay an average of $8 more a month, or $95 more a year, according to the company.
Historical perspective: Rates would be about 17% less than those of a decade ago, according to Piedmont. Rates are based on the wholesale market. Prices rise and fall over the years, according to market prices.
Effective when: November.
Why the rate increase request: To recover $1.7 billion in capital investments that include building a natural gas storage facility in Robeson County, improving its storage facility in Huntersville, and federally required safety improvements to its system, according to Piedmont.
The facilities in part will help the company meet an ongoing increase in the number of customers in its service areas, Piedmont officials said.
The company serves six of North Carolina’s 10 most-populated cities, according to a post on its website addressing what the company says is the need for a rate hike.
The number of N.C. customers has mushroomed by more than 42,000 since January 2018, Piedmont officials said.
The facilities also allow Piedmont to buy natural gas in warmer months when prices are low and deliver it during colder months, according to the company. The company can thereby avoid paying inflated prices when natural gas is most in demand.
How many customers does Piedmont have: More than a million residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Carolinas and Tennessee.
Didn’t my bills just go way up? Yes, they did. Some Charlotte residents were angry about Piedmont Natural Gas bills that doubled or tripled this winter over the same time last year. The company cited higher usage as a big reason why. But previous Decembers also were far warmer, the wholesale price of natural gas shot up and a federal tax credit expired, company officials said.
Help for customers: Piedmont Natural Gas said it will continue its customer assistance programs, discontinue remaining credit card fees for customer payments and expand energy efficiency programs.
The company said it will continue offering plans and “flexible options” to customers behind on utility payments.
Business customers in need should visit piedmontng.com/Extension. For residential customers: piedmontng.com/ExtraTime.
Also, 211.org helps customers find local community help agencies.
The company’s Share the Warmth program provides funds to local agencies to help families with their utility bills, no matter the source.
And its Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program targets low-income households.
For more details about those and other Piedmont customer-assistance programs, visit www.piedmontng.com and ww.piedmontng.com/rates.
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 6:06 PM.