National Fuel customers can expect to see an increase in their rates this winter as temperatures begin to drop and households start turning on their heat.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved a $10.5 million rate increase for National Fuel Gas Distribution customers. The increase amounts to about $3 per month for the average customer, or approximately 3.5%.
“That’s about $3.00 per customer per month, about 3.5 percent, so we are expecting an increase for the wintertime,” said Brian Welsch, Vice President of National Fuel Gas Distribution.
Welsch said the company has worked to keep costs under control. This is only the second rate increase since 2023 and the third in the past 20 years.
However, he said customers’ overall bills could remain relatively flat or even decrease slightly compared to last winter because natural gas commodity prices are lower.
“The total bill we think will actually be flat to down a little bit versus last year because natural gas supplies the commodity prices for the gas that flows through our system and is used by our customers, and those prices are down from last winter,” Welsch said.
For customers concerned about the cost of heating their homes, Welsch said National Fuel offers several assistance programs.
One option is the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which opened for enrollment Monday.
“Income-eligible customers could qualify for anywhere between $200 and $1,000 in a grant, not a loan, but a grant to help offset their home heating costs,” Welsch said.
Customers who do not qualify for LIHEAP may still be eligible for other assistance programs. As Welsch explained, “We have a customer assistance program that customers can qualify for bill discounts and also our arrears forgiveness if they were to enroll in the program and maintain their status with their bill payments, so that’s a big one, we have a neighbor to neighbor program that also helps customers with their bills.”
To help offset the rate increase, National Fuel plans to spread the additional cost out over monthly bills. The company will also provide customers with a one-time $30 credit on their bills.
For more information about programs offered through National Fuel or to learn more about LIHEAP, click here.