Enbridge Gas proposes rate cut

Enbridge Gas New Brunswick says residential customers will pay less next year if the company's rate application for 2015 is approved by the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board.

Enbridge general manager Gilles Volp says while the basic charge will increase by two dollars, the company wants to drop the distribution rate for home service from $10 per gigajoule to $4.85.

The company says that if the new rates are approved, the typical residential gas customer will spend 20 per cent less than those who useelectricity to heat their homes.

Small and medium-sized commercial customers will see some savings as well, while large commercial customers will have an increase of less than three per cent, Enbridge says.

Volp says the energy and utilities board will begin hearings on the rate application next month. If approved, the new rates will come into effect in 2015.

In January, as natural gas prices skyrocketed,Enbridge was ordered by the energy and utilities board to slash distribution rates by 60 per cent for about 9,000 homeowners and businesses in the province.

Enbridge opposed the move, but the board sided with a public intervenor who argued natural gas customers had been promised better prices and were entitled to relief.