Despite the fact that it is seeking a natural gas rate decrease before the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy (MDTE), Unitil’s Massachusetts utility subsidiary noted Monday that customers will actually see a slight increase due to the end of a temporary refund.

The decrease request came in Unitil’s semiannual Cost of Gas Adjustment (CGA) filing, which covers the subsidiary’s summer period gas rates that will take effect on May 1.

“Gas costs are projected to be lower on average; however, the temporary refund which reduced rates in February, March and April will cease, resulting in a net average increase of 8.6%,” Unitil said. “Excluding the effect of the temporary refund, Unitil’s average gas rates are decreasing 2.3%.”

The Hampton, NH-based company added that customers who are purchasing their gas from another supplier will not be affected by the rate change, which must be approved by the MDTE.

The request comes just days after another subsidiary, Unitil Energy Systems Inc., filed two proposed electric rate changes with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which would also take effect May 1. If approved, the combined impact will be to reduce average rates by 1.4%.

The Unitil subsidiary explained that a typical residential customer taking Transition Service using 500 kWh per month will see their bill decrease by $0.52, or 0.9% to $56.40. The regular general service class will see decreases of 1% on average, while the large general service class will see an average decrease of 2.4%. The outdoor lighting class will see a decrease of 0.5%.

“This rate decrease is a reflection of the continuing implementation of the regulatory restructuring plan we implemented in May of last year,” said Robert G. Schoenberger, CEO of Unitil. “We are able to pass along these savings to our customers in spite of the continuing volatility of energy markets in general – the cost savings will be welcome news for our customers.”

Unitil Corp. is a public utility holding company with subsidiaries providing electric service in New Hampshire, electric and gas service in Massachusetts and energy services throughout the Northeast.

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