The cost of electricity is going up
Jeremy M. Lazarus | 9/22/2022, 6 p.m.
Surging demand and a jump in the price of natural gas is about to impact electric bills in Virginia.
Dominion Energy secured approval last Friday from the Virginia State Corporation Commission to boost bills to recover the extra $1 billion it is spending for the fuel, which has replaced coal as the prime energy source at a major share of its electric plants.
Dominion estimates that the average residential customer will pay an extra $14.30 a month for the next three years, beginning in October.
According to Dominion, the price increase could have justified an immediate $24 a month increase for residential customers, but it chose to ease the financial hit to customers by spreading the recovery time over 36 months. The company indicated that if the price of the fuel falls back in that time, customers might see a reduction.
The increase in natural gas prices already has impacted natural gas users in Richmond, where the Department of Public Utilities has nearly doubled its fuel charge to customers who rely on the fuel for cooking, heating water and their homes.
The war in Ukraine led to a spike in the price of natural gas earlier this year. Increased demand from companies like Dominion and from other users has helped keep the price at levels well above the past few years.
