Natural gas rates will increase for Oak Ridge Utility District customers because of weather-related price increases and higher transportation costs. Rates are expected to decrease when weather-related spikes decline.
The rates will increase because there has been a rise in the price of natural gas related to the recent extreme weather, ORUD Director of Finance/Controller Robert DePriest said Friday.
Also, in January, there was an increase in the transportation costs that ORUD pays for the delivery of natural gas to its distribution system, DePriest said in a statement.
“Over the next few months, depending on the weather, customers could potentially see rates 10 percent to 20 percent higher than last winter,” the statement said.
ORUD’s policy is to set rates based on its actual cost of gas.
“As ORUD’s cost of gas declines, so will customers’ bills,” the statement said. “We expect the rates to drop as the weather-related spikes decline with the return of more normal weather.”
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