Oregon Public Broadcasting

People who heat or cook with natural gas can look forward to significantly lower utility bills this fall and winter. Correspondent Tom Banse reports.

Wholesale prices for natural gas have plummeted in this recession due to declining industrial demand.

Utilities report the marketplace is flooded with surplus gas from new discoveries and record volumes in storage.

All this adds up to big rate cuts for natural gas customers. First out of the gate this summer is Cascade Natural Gas.

Jon Stoltz is a company spokesman.

Jon Stoltz: “We filed with the state of Washington for approximately a 14 percent decrease. We'd expect something along the same level for our Oregon filing.”

The public utility commissions in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho all require gas utilities to pass through lower wholesale prices to consumers.

The PUC's are expecting other companies to file for rate decreases in the fall -- including Puget Sound Energy, Avista Utilities, NW Natural, and Intermountain Gas Company.