Centra Gas customers in Manitoba will see rate cut in February

Manitobans can expect to get a break on their natural gas bills after the Public Utilities Board approved a rate reduction application from Centra Gas Manitoba.

The provincial gas distributor's primary rate will be 13.43 cents per cubic metre, down from 19.16 cents, starting Feb. 1, the utilities board said in a Tuesday news release.

That means a projected annual savings of about 14.2 per cent, or $121 for a typical residential customer, the PUB says.

The cutcomes after one of the most significant price hikes in years, and willbringgas rates close towhere they were prior to the increase last fall.

Last October, the utilities board announced a rate increasefrom13.23 cents per cubic metre to19.16 cents. At the time, the PUB said thatwould amount to an increase of about17 per cent or $124 a year for the average residential customer.

The rate will be reviewed again on May 1, the PUB says.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of Manitoba Hydro, CentraGas can only charge customers what it pays for gasand cannot make a profit.

Customers with contracts that set a fixed term and price, either with CentraGas or a private broker, are not affected, the utilities boardsaid.