As if it couldn't get any worse for natural gas customers in Kentucky, get ready to tighten the purse strings even more and the teeth of winter isn't here yet.

The Kentucky Public Service Commission today announced that it has granted Union Light, Heat and Power a revenue increase to natural gas customers.   The amount of the granted increase is $8.1 million.  That may seem like a big increase but it is $5.9 millon less than what ULH&P asked the commission for. 

The average customer charge is expected to be twelve dollars a month with base gas prices increasing by over four dollars.  The base rate for gas is based on a dollar for dollar basis so the provider does not profit on the gas price itself but the customer charge above the gas rate. 

The Public Service Commisson says that wholesale gas rates have increased 50% since year and natural disasters have been blamed in the past for some of the increase in gas prices which are not regulated by the government.  This means that gas prices fluctuate regularly according to market conditions. 

The last time that the Public Services Commission granted a rate increase to ULH&P was four years ago.  The Commission says that wholesale gas prices have more than doubled in that time.

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