Smaller Cascade Natural Gas rate hike proposed

A rate increase for Cascade Natural Gas customers could be a little smaller under a proposed settlement agreement.

A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. June 17 at the Kennewick branch of the Mid-Columbia Libraries, 1620 S. Union St.

Cascade, based in Kennewick, proposed to the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission a rate increase of $10.5 million or 4.17 percent starting Sept. 1.

In a settlement agreement reached by Cascade and staff of the state commission, an overall rate increase of $4 million or 1.6 percent is recommended.

The state commission is not bound by the agreement. It will make a decision this summer on the requested rate increase.

The overall rate of return under the agreement would be 7.35 percent rather than the 7.65 percent Cascade originally requested. Cascade’s last general rate increase was in 2007.

A typical customer using 54 therms a month would pay $1.39 more under the recommendation, for an average monthly bill of about $55.86.

The basic service charge paid by all customers regardless of the amount of gas used will not change. It covers costs such as meters and billing rather than natural gas used.

The settlement also establishes a “decoupling” mechanism that will separate the recovery of fixed costs from the volume of gas sales. Instead, revenue will be determined on a per-customer basis, removing a financial disincentive for investing in conservation and energy efficiency.

Customers may comment at the Kennewick meeting, email comments to comment@utc.wa.gov, send them to P.O. Box 47250, Olympia, Wash., 98504; or call 888-333-9882.

This story was originally published May 16, 2016 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Smaller Cascade Natural Gas rate hike proposed."