Energy Costs Going Up in More Ways Than One
THE FXBG ADVANCE THURSDAY 7/16/26 MORNING READ
By Hank Silverberg, ADVANCE CORRESPONDENT
Many people are already struggling to meet the cost of energy with the rising price of gasoline at the pump. Now, with a July spike in electricity costs, and a home gas price hike on the horizon, local residents could soon be spending as much as $288.36 more a year to service their home.
That’s if the Virginia State Corporation Commission approves a rate hike request from Columbia Gas, as expected—right on the heels of the Dominion Power rate increase that took effect July 1.
The justification for the Columbia Gas rate hike, according to their application to the State Corporation Commission, is to “allow the company to improve its natural gas distribution system to continue to provide safe, reliable and high-quality service to its customers; and to accommodate the sustained demand for natural gas in the areas Columbia Gas serves.”
A second hike in the base rate could come in 2027.
If approved, the increase will bring approximately $64.3 million in annual revenue to Columbia Gas starting Oct. 4, 2026, and a further annual revenue increase of $14.6 million starting Oct. 4, 2027. The average residential customer would pay about $11 more per month starting in October of this year, and an additional 3.16 percent, or about $3.03 more a month on top of that, starting in late 2027.
Columbia gas serves 293,000 residential and commercial customers across the state.
And the cost of gas could go even higher still, since the requested increase doesn’t include the price of the actual natural gas. If that goes up, the cost will also be passed on to the customer.
All of this, as noted above, is coming right after Dominion Virginia Power raised its rates for electricity the beginning of July. According to a Dominion news release, customers using 1,000 kilowatt hours will see an average base increase of about $8 in the fuel portion of their monthly power bill going forward, though that may vary, based on size of home, energy efficiency, and whether it’s during peak usage. That base price will go up another $2 per month in 2027 for a typical residential customer.
The increased rates will bring in about $565.7 million for Dominion this year and an additional $209.9 million in 2027. The State Corporation Commission called the rate hike “just and reasonable.”
