Long Island gas bills to rise $33 a month after PSC approves rate hike for National Grid

The state Public Service Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a three-year rate hike that will allow London-based National Grid to raise average residential natural gas bills by $33 a month starting next month.

The increase was opposed by some consumer groups and climate activists, a contingent of whom disrupted Thursday's hearing just before the vote with signs reading, "We will not be poisoned." The groups want to see a vast reduction in natural gas use, infrastructure and spending.

The six commissioners voted unanimously to pass the increase moments later, after a quick recess. 

PSC commissioners generally applauded the rate plan, which was first filed in April 2023 and involved tens of thousands of pages of records as well as public hearings for Long Island and New York City customers, who are also seeing similar increases. One PSC commissioner expressed a note of reservation about the hike.

"I don't want to vote yes," PSC commissioner John Maggiore said. "I don't want to raise anyone's rates. However, as I search the record, I don't see anything to justify a no vote."

National Grid serves about 600,000 gas customers on Long Island.

On a year-over-year basis, average Long Island residential gas customers bills would increase $33.35 a month, or 22%, starting next month. They would rise another $8.19 a month, or 4.39%, in 2025, and another $18.81 a month, or 9.17%, in 2026. On a cumulative basis, average customers would pay a total of $1,622.88 more for gas service over the three years — $400.20 more the first year, $497.48 the second and $724.20 more the third. 

A current average bill of about $150 a month for those using 83 therms would rise to $183.35 a month in the first year, starting Sept. 1. That same bill will jump to $191.54 a month in the second year and $210.35 a month in the third year. 

"Long Island’s ratepayers are already struggling and this hike will only worsen the financial strain, particularly on low- and fixed-income households," said Laurie Wheelock, executive director of the Public Utility Law Project, a consumer group.

Noting more than 51,000 Long Islanders are behind on their gas bills by more than $51 million, she added the PSC's attempt to strike a balance between utility and consumer interests "must be accompanied by concrete measures to ensure that utility rates are affordable to all New Yorkers, especially those who are most vulnerable to rising costs."

National Grid's rate hikes anticipate relatively stable commodity gas prices during the three-year period. Higher gas costs, which typically rise in winter, would increase bills proportionately, as would a colder winter, as bills would jump with increased use. Warmer weather generally moderates those costs.

Natural gas prices have been relatively stable this year and even trended downward, according to National Grid data. The cost of a therm of gas for average residential customers dropped to 31.8 cents in August, down from 46.3 cents in July. Prices this year hit a high of 55 cents in January but have been down in six of eight months of this year. The data also show gas costs reached a recent high of $1.08 a therm in September 2022.

National Grid said the increased revenue it receives from the hike from Long Island customers, amounting to $147.1 million in the first year, $163.1 million in the second and $180.4 million by the third, would be used for infrastructure improvements, including quicker replacement of aging gas lines, more programs for low- and moderate income customers, and "expanded" customer service and assistance.

In a statement, National Grid's general counsel, Phil DeCicco, said the company is "proud that this rate plan advances" its commitments to "reliable service," "affordable energy" and a "clean energy transition."

But Assemb. Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), called the PSC’s approval of the rate hike “deeply concerning for Long Island families and businesses.”

“While maintaining reliable infrastructure is important, we must prioritize the economic well-being of our communities,” she said in a statement. National Grid’s PSC-approved programs for low- and moderate-income customers are “a step in the right direction, but we must ensure they are comprehensive and effectively targeted to those most in need.”

More than 1,000 people submitted public comments in the case, many criticizing the rate hike.

But hundreds of members of National Grid's unionized work force largely supported the increase, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Laborers unions. Many of the letters included the statement that the rate hike would let National Grid "create hundreds of well-paying union jobs and keep our communities safer and improve reliability by removing leak-prone pipe." 

Former LIPA trustee Jeffrey Greenfield, owner of NGL Group insurance, argued the PSC should tie any rate increase to better supervision of the company's customer-facing workforce. He noted on "any given morning I see them [National Grid workers] across the street at McDonald's at the start of the business day," and asked, "Why can't the National Grid employees eat before they go to work?" 

It’s not just National Grid’s prices that are increasing. As Newsday reported, average PSEG Long Island bills have seen increases in the power supply charge — which is about half a customer's bill — in six of the past eight months, one as high as 16.6% on a month-over-month basis this year. The charge increased again 2.8% in August. The charge had dropped 12.75% in April.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.