Natural gas provider applies for rate decrease

Here's news you don't hear every day - an energy supplier is proposing a rate decrease.

Piedmont Natural Gas, which serves 130,000 customers in the Upstate, including several thousands in Cherokee County, is seeking approval from the state Public Service Commission to cut its benchmark cost of natural gas by more than 20 percent from $11.50 per thousand cubic feet to $8.75 per thousand cubic feet, according to Piedmont Natural Gas spokesperson Dave Trusty.

The new rates would take effect Oct. 1.

Trusty said the proposal reflects a drop in the wholesale price of natural gas.

"I know it didn't feel like it but we had a cooler-thanexpected summer," he said, "so there was a decrease in the demand."

The benchmark cost of natural gas makes up the lion's share, or about 65 to 70 percent, of a customer's bill.

Natural gas utilities can ask the utilities commission to adjust their rates once a month, so there could be further price cuts or a price hike before winter arrives, Trusty said.