Bresnahan urges PA regulator to reject proposed UGI Utilities rate hike
U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) is fighting to protect the more than 764,000 constituents in the northeastern Pennsylvania district he represents from a 10.8 percent rate increase proposed by UGI Utilities, a natural gas and electric utility.
In a March 13 letter addressed to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), Rep. Bresnahan expressed his opposition to UGI’s request to the PUC for a rate hike that ranged from 7.5 percent for industrial customers to 10.8 percent for residential customers. The proposed rate increase would raise $110.4 million for UGI, which it states would be used to cover system improvement and operation costs.
“This proposed rate hike will severely hurt a population still feeling the impacts of record inflation,” he wrote. “It is reckless in nature and should immediately be withdrawn.”
He noted that Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District has the second lowest median income of all congressional districts in the state. The median household income of Rep. Bresnahan’s district is $61,140, ranking 353rd of all congressional districts.
The congressman noted that UGI most recently increased rates on residential customers by 8.7% in December 2024, just a month before UGI’s Jan. 27 request.
Rep. Bresnahan’s letter stated that the proposed rate increase came on the same day that UGI Energy Services, a unit of UGI Corp., the parent company of UGI Utilities, announced a $120 million acquisition of Superior Midstream Appalachian LLC, through a joint venture with Stonehenge Energy Resources.
The Pennsylvania PUC voted on Feb. 20 to suspend and investigate the proposed rate increase. The case has been referred to the PUC’s Office of Administrative Law Judge for a final decision due by October. The congressman said he was grateful for that intervention.
In addition to Rep. Bresnahan’s request for the PUC to reject the proposal, he also requested the PUC hold a public field meeting in Northeastern Pennsylvania, “so residents can voice their concerns about how this proposed hike will cause immediate financial agony.”