Peoples Natural Gas is seeking state approval of a rate increase that the company said would raise customer monthly bills by $10 to $14.

Peoples said Monday that it filed a petition with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for a base rate increase of $94.9 million to support its long-term infrastructure improvement plan, which calls for the continued removal and replacement of aging pipelines to improve infrastructure, while substantially decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. This is the largest single infrastructure initiative in the company's history.

If the PUC approves the entire request, a typical Peoples division residential customer would see a bill increase of about $10 per month, while a typical Equitable division residential customer would see an increase of about $14 per month.

The base rate increase also would allow Peoples to recover ongoing business costs, such as labor and benefit expenses, taxes, debt costs and a reasonable return on investment. The request requires investigation and approval by the PUC. The earliest date for the rate change would be March 29, but the process for a general rate proceeding before the PUC can take up to nine months after the initial filing. Therefore, it is expected that new rates would be effective at some point in the fall.

“This request will help Peoples invest in modernizing our pipeline infrastructure and continuing our greenhouse gas reduction,” said Morgan O'Brien, Peoples' president and CEO. “In 2018 alone, through our LTIIP plan, Peoples replaced 146 miles of pipe. While every utility needs to have rates that truly reflect the costs of providing services, we are really proud of the fact that this is Peoples' first request for an increase in more than six years. We have avoided increases up to now by focusing on achieving efficiencies in the multiple systems that we operate.”

“Customers with fixed or limited incomes may have concerns about how the proposed increase will affect their bill,” said Rita Black, director of customer relations for Peoples. “We can help our customers in many ways with energy assistance and monthly payment plans.”

Eligible customers can be connected to Peoples' customer support programs by calling 1-800-400-WARM or visiting peoples-gas.com/help.

Customers also can contact Peoples with questions regarding the base rate filing at 1-800-764-0111. Additional details on the rate request are available at peoples-gas.com/rates.