PSNC Energy's customers statewide will see a 7.3 percent rate cut effective Sunday.
The change will come to a $7.50 reduction on a typical monthly bill of $90.24 for a home that uses 94 therms of natural gas.
The N.C. Utilities Commission approved the cut this week in response to falling natural gas prices. Utilities in the state can pass on their fuel costs to customers if they demonstrate to regulators that they negotiated the best prices on those fuels.
PSNC has been cutting its rates for months as natural gas prices have plummeted. The utility's rates have fallen 33 percent in the past year.
PSNC, the Triangle's natural gas utility, has 460,000 customers in the state.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or