ST. LOUIS – Spire Missouri, a natural gas provider in the St. Louis area, is set to decrease monthly bills for customers in the near future.

Spire announced Tuesday that the Missouri Public Service Commission approved a plan through which customers will see a significant bill decrease, starting Nov. 15, 2024.

“Our rates are made up of two components,” David Yonce, Spire’s managing director of regulatory affairs, said. “The first is the cost to deliver the gas to the home. And the second is the cost of the natural gas itself. This reduction in the bill is related to the natural gas itself.”

Yonce said the average monthly bill will decrease by around $15.86 for customers in its eastern Missouri region, specifically the St. Louis area. The company reports that’s a decrease of 16.18% on average. The new rates go into effect on Friday, Nov. 15.

Cardinals TV provider Diamond Sports secures deal with Prime Video

The Missouri Public Service Commission approved a newly purchased gas adjustment, which is what caused the anticipated decrease. Spire says the lower bills reflect lower gas prices and the recovery of deferred costs from 2021 winter storms. Natural gas is priced in units of dollars per therm.

“Gas prices are around $3 a dekatherm. During that time, we saw prices above $500. So, prices went up a lot,” Yonce said. “We didn’t want to burden that cost with our customers all at once. So, we worked with the Missouri Public Services Commission to defer those costs over a three-year period. Now we’re up on that period. We’ve recovered those deferred gas costs and that’s allowed us to bring down the rate.”

Spire East’s charges for gas will change from $0.77588 to $0.52486 per ccf, according to the company.

Spire is also planning to decrease bills by around $18.70 on average, or 17.41%, for customers in its western Missouri region, specifically the Kansas City area.

Spire serves 1.7 million homes across three states, including tens of thousands of customers across the St. Louis region.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.