Washington Gas backs off rate hike

Michael Neibauer reports for the Washington Examiner's Web site, Washington Gas will drastically reduce the rate increase for Washington, D.C. customers.

Washington Gas Light Co. has agreed to drastically scale back proposed rate increases for its D.C. consumers, walking away from a yearlong case with next to nothing, under a settlement agreement reached last week with the District government and other parties.

The 8.1 percent rate increase that Washington Gas sought for its residential customers has been slashed to less than 1 percent, according to details of the deal released by the D.C. Public Service Commission, the District's utility regulator. The proposed 5.1 percent increase for commercial gas clients is now 1.7 percent.

The initial rate increase application filed in November 2006 would have garnered the company $20 million more a year. Now, it's looking at a token $1.4 million divided among its 151,000 natural-gas customers, minus the $1.3 million it cost to litigate the case.

Here's a money quote:

“The settlement's about as close to ‘We never should have filed this damn case; now let's get the hell out of here’ as you can get,” said People's Counsel Elizabeth Noel, who represents D.C. residents in utility matters.