HARRISBURG, PA — The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) voted 3-1 to approve a joint settlement agreement substantially scaling back a natural gas base-rate increase requested by UGI Utilities Inc.
Under the terms of the approved agreement, UGI will receive an additional $65 million (5.3%) in annual operating revenues, reflecting a nearly 35% reduction from the company's initial request of $99.4 million (8.05%).
To soften the financial impact on consumers, the $65 million revenue adjustment will be phased in over two stages:
- Phase 1: An initial $40 million rate adjustment effective Oct. 1, 2026.
- Phase 2: The remaining $25 million adjustment effective Oct. 1, 2027.
For an average residential customer using 68.8 Ccf per month, average monthly bills will rise from $113.76 to $117.69 in the first phase, and then to $120.21 in October 2027. The total two-phase increase equals $6.45 per month, or 5.7%, compared to the single $9.91 (8.7%) monthly increase UGI originally sought.
The settlement also limits UGI's fixed monthly residential customer charge—raising it incrementally from $16.25 to $19 on Oct. 1, 2026, and to $20 on Oct. 1, 2027, rather than the $23 monthly fee UGI initially proposed.
In addition to rate controls, the agreement expands protections for low-income households. Under a modified Weather Normalization Adjustment (WNA) pilot set to begin Nov. 1, 2027, low-income customers enrolled in UGI’s Customer Assistance Program (CAP) will be exempt from weather-based surcharge adjustments. UGI also agreed to a "stay-out" provision prohibiting any new base-rate increase filings prior to 2029.
