Consumers Energy OK'd To Raise Natural Gas Rates By 7.6 Percent

LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT/ AP) — Consumers Energy has been approved to increase natural gas rates by 7.6 percent.

An average residential customer will pay an additional $5.48 a month, starting in October.

The $143.5 million hike was OK'd by the state Public Service Commission Thursday.

The commission also approved tax cut-related refunds for Consumers Energy electric customers. A residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours a month will pay 68 cents less beginning in October.

The increase is less than the $229 million hike sought by the Jackson-based utility, which provides natural gas service to 4.1 million people. Regulators lowered the size of the rate increase in part by accounting for the 2017 federal corporate tax cut.

© 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this story.