SCANA Corp.’s South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCE&G) on Tuesday filed with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSC) and the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff for a 2.24%, or $10 million, overall natural gas base rate decrease.

“Our filing today, combined with lower wholesale prices for natural gas, means residential customers will be paying an average of about $100 a year less for natural gas beginning in November than they were one year ago,” said SCE&G’s Marty Phalen, vice president of natural gas operations.

Phalen said the rate filing is being driven primarily by an increase in business from interruptible industrial customers and lower capital spending costs by the company.

The filings were made under the Natural Gas Rate Stabilization Act, a South Carolina law designed to reduce volatility of customer rates by allowing for more efficient recovery of the costs that regulated utilities incur in expanding, improving and maintaining natural gas service infrastructure.

The 2.24% rate reduction consists of a 4.18% decrease for residential customers, a 1.93% decrease for small/medium commercial customers and a 1.30% decrease for large commercial/industrial customers. If approved, the rate decrease would be implemented with the first billing cycle of November.

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