More rate relief comes from Fayetteville Public Utilities as the FPU residential natural gas rate drops to $1.52 this week as a result of the continued trend of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) market pricing for natural gas.

This is the third time FPU has lowered its natural gas rate in as many months.

In January, FPU lowered the residential gas rate by 9 cents per ccf (hundred cubic feet). Again in February, FPU lowered the rate by another 14 cents per ccf which brought the charge to $1.60 per ccf.

According to FPU's General Manager Britt Dye, the March 2009 natural gas rate is the lowest it's been since March 2008 when it was $1.47 per ccf.

"We will continue to pass along any savings on utility rates to our customers as long as it's feasible," says Dye. "We are a not-for-profit utility, so any margin FPU gains throughout the year is invested back into the community for improved services or lower rates. This has been our practice since our utility service was established."

With the March decrease of 8 cents per ccf, customers using 100 ccf during the month will be billed $161.71. This is a savings of $9.21 from February's billing.

"The rate adjustment is effective with our first billing for the month of March," says Dye. "Please keep in mind that FPU natural gas customers will be affected differently based on the amount of gas they use to heat their homes," he adds.

"Even though we are experiencing warmer weather this week, please keep in mind that your March bill reflects prior use for February when we had colder temperatures," says Randall Griner, FPU's Natural Gas Operations Superintendent. "This may cause the gas bills to be higher than expected now that warmer temperatures don't require us to use as much heat."

"We continue to monitor the natural gas market for any further rate reductions that can be passed on and offer relief to our customers," says Dye.  "At this time we do not know if natural gas costs will continue to decrease or if they will begin to swing the other direction."