Retail charges were reduced for two of Oregon’s private-sector natural gas utilities Tuesday, while a third gas utility was granted an increase of less than 1% by the Oregon Public Utility Commission (PUC).

The PUC said wholesale gas and oil prices have separated somewhat over the past 12 months, allowing for a downturn in wholesale gas prices. The rate changes for all of the utilities are effective Nov. 1.

A typical monthly bill for customers of Oregon’s largest natural gas distributor, Northwest Natural Gas Corp., will decrease by $6.50, or 8%, based on the PUC’s approval. Customers of Spokane, WA-based Avista Utilities will see a decrease in monthly bills of about $1.02, or 1.3%. The third utility, Cascade Natural Gas, will increase its rates 0.8%, or less than 60 cents/month for the average bill.

PUC Chairman Lee Beyer said he was encouraged that the state was “now in a position to be able to reduce rates for the coming year after several years of higher prices.” Even with the reduced or essentially flat rates, the PUC urged consumers to consider ways to reduce their gas use.

The PUC annually adjusts each utility’s rates to reflect the actual cost of wholesale natural gas during the preceding 12 months. “The mechanism allows the gas utilities to pass through their actual gas purchasing costs, without any markup,” the PUC said. “The adjustment also accounts for differences from the purchased cost of gas in the previous year with actual costs.”

Oregon’s regulators and utilities attributed the lower prices to several factors, including a generally mild 2006-07 winter, no major supply interruptions such as the hurricanes of two years ago, and the decoupling of wholesale gas and oil prices.

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