PUCO schedules hearing in Youngstown on gas billing proposal

YOUNGSTOWN — Consumers in the area will have an opportunity to respond to Dominion East Ohio’s proposal to change the distribution portion of its billing.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has scheduled a public hearing at 2 p.m. July 28 at Youngstown City Hall, 26 S. Phelps St.

Dominion has requested to move from a usage-based fee to a flat fee of $17.50 per month per bill for the distribution of natural gas, regardless of consumers’ consumption.

A small, variable distribution fee ranging from 36 cents to $1.24 per thousand cubic feet of gas would still be added for distribution.

Dominion charges customers in Northeast Ohio $5.70 per month in administrative fees, such as meter reading and billing. The company also charges a distribution fee that varies per usage to cover the cost of delivering gas.

The PUCO staff has recommended that the administrative and distribution fees be combined into a flat rate.

The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, which represents utility customers in rate cases, filed an objection to the proposal earlier this week.

During an interview for a Vindicator article on the same subject earlier this week, Matt Butler, a PUCO spokesman, said he didn’t have figures on what the change would mean to an average customer. In a recent case with Duke Energy in Cincinnati, similar changes resulted in a $4 a month increase, he said.

PUCO has scheduled additional hearings throughout the summer for Lima, Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Geneva and Marietta.

hschoenstein@vindy.com