As the winter heating season winds down, natural gas costs for UGI Utilities customers are going up.
Beginning Saturday, residential customers will see a 7.1% increase, the East Cocalico Township-based utility announced Monday.
The increase will raise an average customer’s monthly bill from $104.37 to $111.73 UGI calculates that the average customer uses 73.6 hundred cubic feet (ccf) of natural gas per month.
The hike is a result of changes in the actual cost of natural gas UGI purchases for customers, an amount that, by law, is passed directly through to customers without any markup. In announcing the rate change, UGI said colder temperatures have increased demand for natural gas, which has driven up the cost.
UGI has more than 740,000 customers in 46 counties in Pennsylvania, including about 75,000 residential natural gas customers in Lancaster County.
UGI offers budget billing and an auto-pay program to assist customers in managing bill payments. Customers with a limited or fixed income should visit ugi.com/customerassistance or call UGI at 1-800-UGI-WARM to determine if they are eligible for one of several energy assistance programs.
Natural gas utility customers in Pennsylvania have the option of shopping for their energy supplier through pagasswitch.com. Any changes affect only a customer’s supplier, and the natural gas would still be delivered through the area’s natural gas distributor, which is UGI for most customers in Lancaster County.
