Vermont Gas Systems wants to reduce its rates 5.86 percent by winter.
The VTGas application to adjust natural gas rates Nov. 1 is pending approval from the Vermont Public Service Board, and the exact rates will vary depending on the type of customer.
Since 2008, VTGas spokesman Steve Wark says the company has altered rates 21 times — 16 of those were reductions and five were increases. He says those changes net out to a 30 percent reduction in VTGas rates over the past five years.
What drove the decrease, he said, was a drop in transmission costs. TransCanada — the company that wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline — reduced its tolls for transporting natural gas across Canada.
“The actual gas commodity costs inched up a little bit, but the transmission costs far offset that,” Wark said.
VTGas has an application pending in front of the Public Service Board for a 41.2-mile southern expansion line from Colchester to Middlebury.
Read the story on VTDigger here: VTGas seeks 5.86 percent rate decrease.
