Data Centers Drive Up Natural Gas Bills for Pennsylvania Residents

Retirees Janet Stechly and her husband, a former coal miner, are baffled by their high natural gas bills in southwestern Pennsylvania. Their March bill from Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania totaled $95.17, but only $13.99 covered the actual gas. The rest went to delivery charges ($40.68), customer charges ($20.15), pass-through charges ($13.37), and a weather normalization adjustment ($6.60). These high costs are expected to rise further as new data centers in the region drive up demand for natural gas infrastructure.

The Stechlys' experience highlights a broader issue: the price of natural gas itself is low, but the costs associated with delivering it are high and rising. Utilities like Columbia Gas pass on infrastructure costs to consumers, regardless of actual usage. These costs include new power plants and pipes needed to support data centers, which will consume a significant portion of the regional grid's electricity in the coming years.

Experts note that the commodity's share of an average Columbia Gas bill fell from 54% to 21% between 2006 and 2021, while base rate charges roughly doubled. This trend is expected to continue as more data centers are built. Local residents are divided on the issue, with some advocating for the economic benefits of data centers and others opposing the environmental and financial impacts.

The exact increase in gas bills remains uncertain, as it depends on which plants get built and what the state's Public Utilities Commission allows utilities to recover. However, consumers will likely bear the cost of shared infrastructure upgrades, even if the demand from data centers does not fully materialize.