New Jersey Natural Gas gets OK to raise your bill almost 10%

David P. Willis | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Cities are banning natural gas stoves to save the planet Cities in the U.S., including 13 cities and one California county, are beginning to require electrical stoves to fight climate change.

WALL - Just in time for the cold weather, bills are going up on Friday for New Jersey Natural Gas customers.

The state Board of Public Utilities has approved a settlement that will allow the Wall-based utility to raise an additional $62.2 million through its base rate, which supports the utility's operations maintenance and infrastructure investments and profits.

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The new rates will take effect on Friday. As a result of this rate hike, the typical residential heating customer using 100 therms a month will see their monthly bills go from $104.61 to $114.65, an increase of $10.04, or about 9.6%.

Wall-based New Jersey Natural Gas has 546,500 customers in Monmouth, Ocean, Morris, Middlesex and Burlington counties.

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“We believe this settlement is reasonable, fair and in the best interests of our customers and our company,” said Steve Westhoven, president and chief executive officer of New Jersey Natural Gas, in a statement.

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In March, New Jersey Natural Gas asked regulators for permission to raise rates 19 percent. That proposal would have raised $128.2 million, which would have helped recover infrastructure investments made since the last time the rates were approved by the BPU in 2016.

They include:

An investment of more than $600 million to upgrade and enhance the safety and reliability of its transmission and distribution systems.

The installation of more than 370 miles of new main.

The replacement of about 200 miles of old infrastructure.

Increased work force and operating expenses.

David P. Willis is an award-winning business reporter and columnist who has written about consumer issues for more than 20 years. Contact him at @dpwillis732, 732-643-4039; dwillis@gannettnj.com.