Heating bills to drop as PUB approves natural gas rate cut

Natural gas prices will be dropping for Manitobans, just in time for colder weather to arrive.

The Public Utilities Board (PUB) announced Wednesday that a rate decrease has been approved for Centra Gas and will kick in the beginning of next month.

The PUB said the change will lead to a projected decrease on heating bills by about 10 per cent or $75 a year.

The decrease is for the Gas Commodity rate, which will go from $0.1352/m3 to $0.1021/m3 starting Nov. 1, 2023.

The Commodity Cost Balancing Deferral rate rider will also decrease from $0.0051/m3 to $0.0045/m3.

"Gas Commodity is sold on a cost recovery basis, meaning that Centra charges customers only what Centra pays for Gas Commodity and does not make a profit on its sale. The current Gas Commodity rate decrease is the result of decreases in the North American natural gas market prices," the PUB said in a news release.

The rate will be reviewed again for February 2024.