MERCER COUNTY National Fuel Gas customers will see monthly bills go up

The average residential bill will go up about $9 a month.
SHARON, Pa. -- Customers of National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp. had expected their natural gas rates to go down 3.8 percent Friday.
They didn't.
They went up 8.6 percent instead.
The company had originally projected a decrease in its annual adjustment to gas cost rates but said Friday that the nationwide increase in the market price of natural gas has made it necessary to increase rates to more accurately reflect the cost of gas purchased by the company for its customers now through July 31, 2004.
Gas costs are a direct pass-through from the seller to the customer. Utility companies aren't allowed to take any profit on gas costs.
Average bill
The 8.6 percent increase will raise the average residential monthly bill from $99.63 to $108.17.
"While current natural gas commodity prices are more than double what they were last year, National Fuel's customers are seeing only a portion of that increase due to the company's purchasing strategy, which helps to offset price volatility," said Sandra James, assistant director of corporate communications.
Market prices went up nationally because of a colder-than-normal winter and increased use of natural gas during the summer, she said.
National Fuel has 214,000 customers in 14 northwestern Pennsylvania counties, including 30,000 in Mercer County but none in Lawrence County.