UGI Utilities customers, elected officials testify at rate-hike hearing

WILKES-BARRE — Customers of UGI Utilities, along with elected officials, called on the Public Utility Commission (PUC) during a meeting Wednesday to reject a proposal by UGI to increase its natural gas base rates.

The public hearing was held at city hall in city council chambers, which was packed with residents of both Luzerne and Lackawanna County, along with business owners and local representatives.

The meeting was held at the request of Mayor George Brown, who wrote to the PUC last month asking to host it in the city.

More than a dozen ended up testifying in front of PUC Administrative Law Judge Charece Collins, who presided over the hearing, Duty Chief Administrative Law Judge Mark Hoyer, Attorney David McGregor, representing UGI, as well as a handful of organizations, including the Office of Consumer Advocate and the Commission for Ecomonic Opportunity (CEO), all representing consumer interests.

Collins explained the public’s testimony would be reviewed by the commission and taken into consideration when making its final decision on the rate increase, which is due Oct. 28.

Some who spoke during the meeting railed against UGI for putting shareholder interests ahead of customers, while others cited economic uncertainty and the rising cost of living as reasons for why they believed the PUC should reject UGI’s proposal.

UGI first requested the rate increase on Jan. 27 and asked for it to go into effect on or after March 28.

According to previous reporting, UGI’s proposal would increase annual operating revenues for natural gas distribution service by $110.4 million (9.7%).

Under the proposal, the average bill for a residential customer using 73.7 hundred cubic feet (Ccf) of natural gas per month would increase from $104.47 to $115.74/month (10.8%).

However, the PUC then suspended its decision on Feb. 20 in order to investigate the request and gather input from the public.

Public input

During his testimony, Brown said he feared the rate increase would affect the local economy, especially small business owners who were still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brown also urged the commission to evaluate the impact on residents, who have a median household income of $47,970, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Many of our elderly residents are on fixed incomes,” Brown said. “Wilkes-Barre City has residents from low-income households who receive financial assistance from various social services. And I fear this rate increase will push our financially insecure residents to face the choice between paying their gas bill or paying their food or medicine bills.”

Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti said Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties “are not wealthy communities,” with a poverty rate of 22%. With continued economic downturns, Cognetti said that number could rise.

“Rent is high; food prices are high. Prices of cell phones and and vehicles are going up,” she said. “There’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty even since we first requested this hearing.”

State Rep. Jim Haddock, D-118, Pittston Twp., said that when UGI announced its request to raise rates, his two district offices were “flooded with phone calls” and his instant messenger app on Facebook blew up with messages, all from “constituents who were upset with the rate increase” and said they couldn’t afford it.

“Having a public utility company, in this case, UGI, asking for their third increase in four years is unacceptable,” he said.

Haddock also found it “ironic” that the company was asking for a “supposedly much needed” 10.8% rate increase when he said it had paid dividends of 4.99% on April 1 to its stockholders.

Tony Brooks, Chairperson of Wilkes-Barre City Council, testified that he represented many “widowed grandmothers” who live on less than $1,000 a month and that the proposed rate increase would wipe out what most of them have left after bills are paid.

Wilkes-Barre City Controller Tony Thomas brought up the fact that roughly 2,000 households in Luzerne County receive financial assistance to pay for utility costs and that last year, the county had increased “the income eligibility for those individuals because they saw how many folks in this county struggle every single month to pay their bills.”

“It’s not just fears of utilities rising; it’s fears of goods, commonly used things — sneakers, clothing, food,” Thomas said. “Consumer confidence in this country is dropping, and concern that we are heading into a recession has been increasing. We simply cannot afford to let those who are the most vulnerable folks in our communities continue to suffer as they struggle to make do right now, given the way things are going.”

Brendan Regan, a funeral director in Scranton, criticized UGI for putting profits over people.

“Now, they’re asking for a 10% increase in our rates so we can enrich them even more. I say an acceptable amount is 0% after their rate increases in 2022 and 2023 because this is consumer capitalism at its worst, where the investors are consuming the clients.”

Gail Malloy, a registered nurse who works for the Wilkes-Barre Health Department, said people simply cannot afford another rate increase. She personally witnessed people lowering the temperatures in their houses, relying on food banks, or eating less to save money.

“With my job, I am in and out of a lot of homes, and people are really suffering. People are losing homes or they can’t afford to rent them, and they’re becoming unhoused,” she said.

Susan Heckman, a resident of Shavertown, echoed similar sentiments, saying that her cost of living had increase 2.5% last year.

“My plea is personal. This is gonna hurt me. It could potentially drive me outta my home,” Heckman said. “There is a lot that we can control. There’s a lot we can’t. I think that we can control this.”

Wednesday’s meeting was one of five held this month by PUC regarding UGI’s proposed rate hike. Two were held this week on Monday in Downtown Williamsport and Tuesday in Lancaster.

A telephonic hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday.

Although the deadline to register to testify was 4 p.m. Wednesday, those who wish to listen to the hearing may call in by dialing the toll-free number: 888-795-4352, entering a PIN number when instructed to do so: 72378378, and speaking your name when prompted. The telephone system will connect you to the hearing.

Information can be found at puc.pa.gov.