www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080801/BUSINESS/808010436/1285/LOCAL09Customers criticize NJNG proposalFREEHOLD — A handful of customers spoke out Thursday night against a proposal by New Jersey Natural Gas to raise natural gas bills by 18 percent to pay for higher wholesale gas costs.
"Eighteen percent on people, it is going to kill them," Freehold Township resident Jeannette Mistretta told utility representatives. "I know it is not just you. We are getting hit from every place."
Mistretta spoke at a public hearing held at the Freehold municipal building on a request the utility filed with the state Board of Public Utilities in May.
If approved, the hike would take effect on Oct. 1. An average customer who uses 164 therms of gas during the winter would see his or her heating bill rise from $243.02 a month to $287.47 a month, up $44.45, or 18 percent, according to the proposal.
Based on 100 therms a month spread over a year, the proposal would increase bills from $150.76 a month to $177.86 a month, up $27.10, said New Jersey Natural Gas, which distributes natural gas to 482,000 customers in Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex and Morris counties.
Dolores Malysa, Freehold Township, said her husband owns a small business.
"We are going to get hit twice," she said. "I don't know how much more the public can take. We are getting outpriced."
The proposed increase covers the wholesale price for natural gas, which is passed through directly to customers and does not increase the profit of New Jersey Natural Gas. The utility instead makes its profit off the distribution of natural gas to homes and businesses.
Tracey Thayer, director, regulatory affairs counsel at New Jersey Natural Gas, said that during the past 12 months the average price of natural gas futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange have increased 33 percent as of the utility's May filing.
"We realize that many of our customers are dealing with the effects of an economic downturn and that rising energy costs are a major part of that," Thayer said. "We have taken steps to mitigate the impact of rising wholesale costs to our customers, preventing an increase that could have been as much as 13 percent higher."
At the time of the filing, the utility had already purchased 60 percent of the gas needed for the upcoming heating season, locking in prices during months when wholesale costs are typically lower, she said.
The company will monitor the market and is ready to provide bill credits, refunds, or price reductions if wholesale prices moderate, as the utility has in the past, she said.
The BPU also is considering an earlier request by the utility to increase bills by 7.5 percent to pay for its distribution and operating costs.
If approved later this year, it would force heating bills even higher. With both proposed increases taken into account, average monthly winter heating bills would rise to $302.62 for a user of 164 therms a month. At 100 therms a month, the bill would rise to $189.21.
David P. Willis: (732) 643-4039, or at dwillis@app.com
