Despite the fact that the market price of natural gas is rising in response to cold fall weather and the rapid depletion of gas in storage across the nation, Chicago-based Peoples Energy said the impact on its utility customers will be “modest” because of the company’s price protection strategy — which was implemented earlier this year — and its strong gas storage inventory.

The company pointed out that the gas charge for customers of Peoples Energy’s utilities has increased less than the rate of increase in the market. “The price of natural gas on the futures market for January is up 14% from December, compared to the gas charge increase for customers of Peoples Gas of less than 6% from December ’02 to January ’03 and a decrease for customers of North Shore Gas of nearly 2% for the same period,” the company said.

Going forward, the company said the January gas charge for customers of Peoples Gas is 48.92 cents per therm, which is 17.45 cents more than January 2002, but far below the record January 2001 gas charge of 97.73 cents. The gas charge for customers of North Shore Gas is 49.53 cents per therm, which is 12.64 cents more than January 2002, yet well below the January 2001 gas charge of 97.49 cents.

Peoples Energy said it has taken steps to mitigate the impact of market price increases on winter heating bills. “Under our price protection program, the company protected nearly 60% of customers’ normal natural gas requirements by purchasing the fuel at a reasonable set price for delivery this winter,” said William E. Morrow, executive vice president, who oversees Peoples Energy’s utility gas purchases. “As the company heads into the historically coldest period of winter, our gas storage inventory remains strong, which will minimize the need to purchase large volumes of natural gas at higher winter prices.”

The company also added that financial assistance is available to customers through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). More information is available at peoplesenergy.com.

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