By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Fearing that this summer’s inflation spells a harsh season ahead for low income natural gas customers, a small group spoke out against a proposed distribution rate increase by National Grid at a Public Utilities Commission hearing held at Pawtucket City Hall Tuesday night.

The public hearing was the first in a series of four scheduled to be held throughout the state to solicit public comment about National Grid’s application for a 5.1 percent increase in its distribution rate. On Sept. 8, formal hearings on the application will be held at the Public Utilities Commission in Warwick.
The impact of the proposal for an average residential heating customer using 922 therms per year would be an increase of approximately $72, according to National Grid spokesman David D. Graves. Graves called the proposed 5.1 percent increase “modest” and said the company has not increased its distribution rate portion of the billing process in 10 years. 
National Grid maintains an additional $20 million in revenue is needed for operational expenses. The company cites the main reasons for the increase as being: the need to replace aging gas mains and services, increases in the cost of operating and maintaining the system as a result
of inflation, and decreasing gas sales resulting from customer conservation efforts and more efficient technologies.
National Grid plans to offer a three-year phase-in of the rate increase. In addition, the company is presenting several proposals aimed to offset the impact, most notably with a new low-income rate providing for a 10 percent discount off the distribution rates for qualifying customers.
However, the news of a possible rate increase did not sit well with a half dozen or so local residents and advocates for the poor and the elderly. Several speakers urged support for a “Percentage of Income Payment Plan” bill introduced by state Rep. Art Handy and pending House and Senate bills that would protect children under age three from a utility shut-off.
Ray Matthew, a restaurant owner for 59 years, told the PUC commissioners that he is paying natural gas bills of $2,200-2,300 a month and another $1,800 a month for electricity. “At that rate, I won’t make it to my 60th year,” he stated.
Ernie Marot, who runs a soup kitchen at the Masonic Temple in the city, urged the PUC to do something to help the homeless and those on fixed incomes. He noted that while National Grid is seeking an increase of 5 percent, Social Security has gone up by less than 2 percent. “There will be more foreclosures in Pawtucket. It has to stop somewhere,” he told the PUC.
Julie Silvia, an organizer for the George Wiley Center, told the PUC that the utility shut-off crisis “has been growing steadily for several years.”  However, she pointed out that with higher gasoline and food prices, this year is different. “We’re forecasting record shut-offs based on an inability to pay,” she stated.
Silvia said that the Public Utilities Division that deals with shut-off cases “has to show more leniency” and called for the need of an affordable payment plan, such as those that exist in several other states.
Henry Shelton, director of the Wiley Center, said that, in addition to the distribution rate increase being sought, National Grid will be asking for additional rate increases in both natural gas and electric services in the near future. He called the company’s low-income plan “very stingy” and said it would still result in low-income customers paying $2 more a month, even with the discount.
Shelton said Rhode Island needs an affordable payment plan as well as an “arrearage forgiveness plan” which reduces bills that are in arrears while providing customers with incentives to make regular and affordable monthly payments. He said various versions of such plans are in place in Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio and New Hampshire.
Gravessaid, however, that National Grid’s low-income rate plan would offset two-thirds of the proposed distribution rate increase for about 18,000 local customers. Approximately 16,000 of these are the customers who currently qualify for federal Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHAP), and an additional 2,000 who would apply for the plan through National Grid.