Regulators approve increased December natural gas rates

COLUMBUS (AP) -- State regulators accepted revised rate increases Wednesday for two of Ohio's largest natural gas suppliers after rejecting their initial applications as too high.
The new rates for Columbia Gas of Ohio and Dominion East Ohio Gas Co. go into effect next week and will be for December only.
The average bill for a Columbia customer will increase $6 from $148.10 for December to $154.13, spokesman Steve Jablonski said.
A message seeking comment on the cost to Dominion East customers was left at the company's Cleveland office.
The rates reflect increases in what the two suppliers pay for natural gas. By law, the utilities are allowed to pass any increase in the wholesale price on to customers but are not allowed to profit from it.
Columbia has 1.3 million residential and business customers in 64 counties throughout the state. Dominion East has about 1.2 million customers in northeast and western Ohio.
The two utilities submitted increase requests Monday to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, but the commission ordered the two to resubmit the requests to better reflect the actual price of gas in a market that has become volatile during the current heating season.