Public Service Commission approves settlement; 6%-6.5% cost of gas increase for Chesapeake users

Users of this gas-heating service will see an increase of about a year on average. (Photo by David McQ/Adobe Stock)

Users of this gas-heating service will see an increase of about $65 a year on average. (Photo by David McQ/Adobe Stock)

The Delaware Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved the settlement of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation’s (Chesapeake) natural gas base rate case.

As a result of the settlement, Chesapeake residential home heating customers will see a rate increase of 6% and non-heating customers will see a rate increase of 6.5%.

For an average residential home heating customer, this will result in an increase of approximately $5.37 per month, and for an average residential non-heating customer, an increase of approximately $2.74 per month.

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Chesapeake filed its rate case on August 12, 2024, initially seeking an increase in its revenue of $12.1 million, raising the requested increase to $12.8 million in later filings.

Chesapeake’s rate case was its first request to increase base gas rates in nine years.

Through the settlement, the amount of the overall rate increase was reduced from Chesapeake’s initial request of $12.1 million to a final settlement of $6.1 million, lowering the impact of the rate increase on Chesapeake customers.

“We know every dollar counts for Delaware families, so we pushed to cut Chesapeake’s original request by half,” said Jameson Tweedie, Delaware Public Advocate. “This agreement keeps monthly fixed charges the same and helps limit the impact on customer bills.”

The settlement also ensures there will be no increases to monthly fixed customer charges or miscellaneous charges by Chesapeake.

This settlement is the result of extensive negotiations between the Division of the Public Advocate, staff for the PSC, and Chesapeake and reflects a mutual balancing of various issues and positions.

Chesapeake implemented interim rates on May 1, 2025, that match the settlement amount.

As a result, Chesapeake customers will not see a change in rates on future bills. The settlement does not resolve a rate design issue that was raised in the case; that will be addressed through a continuing Public Service Commission proceeding.