Residents to pay less for heat after PUB approves decrease in natural gas rates

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This article was published 28/01/2015 (3367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The cost of heating your home is going down.

The Public Utilities Board said today it has approved Centra Gas Manitoba Inc.’s application to decrease the current primary natural gas rate.

The PUB says the projected annual bill impact for a typical residential customer is a decrease of approximately 5.5 per cent or $50 a year. Primary gas rates will be reviewed again May 1.

Primary Gas rates for customers that have signed fixed-term fixed-price contracts, with either Centra or a private broker, are not affected.

The PUB also said at an upcoming hearing, the board wants to consider whether a portion of the gas company’s retained earnings should be used to further reduce the impact on rate payers from the higher cost of home heating during last winter’s frigid weather.

Centra earned $20 million of net income in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014 and its retained earnings totalled $62 million.

The PUB said this compares to the net income approved by the board of $2.5 million in 2013-14, which the PUB expected Centra to earn in a normal weather year.

“The board understands that the cold winter of 2013-14 is the predominant reason for the substantial increase in net income and the record levels of retained earnings,” the PUB said.