Columbia Gas to lower rates for fall months

CHESTER

Customers of Columbia Gas of Virginia will get a break on their monthly bills in the fall.

The Chester-based natural-gas provider said Wednesday that it will lower its rates for September, October and November.

The reduction follows rate increases that Columbia Gas imposed in the summer.

Columbia Gas said the monthly bill for a typical residential customer using 2,600 cubic feet of natural gas will drop by about 12 percent, from $61.37 to $53.98.

Still, the fall rate will be higher than the same period in 2007, when the average bill was $43.25.

Columbia Gas serves nearly 240,000 customers in portions of northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, suburban Richmond, central Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, the Lynchburg region and parts of western Virginia.