(Philadelphia, PA – January 6, 2005) – PGW received a payment of $600,000 from K Laundromat, a group of large commercial customers, after having discovered that gas had been rerouted through unmetered lines and, subsequently, was not paid for. PGW estimates that the usage of unmetered gas had occurred for at least one year at these locations. K Laundromat has widely publicized the fact that it provides “Free Drying” to its customers and each location has large signs advertising this convenience.

The diversion created a potential threat to the safety of nearby residents. PGW’s paying customers bore the cost of this unmetered gas.

“PGW generates bills based on meter readings. When gas is used and it is not metered, it adversely effects our paying customers. Simply put, when gas is unaccounted for, customers pay more,” commented Craig White, Chief Operating Officer, PGW. “As part of our commitment to our customers, we will continue our efforts to identify these situations and to recover any lost revenue that resulted.”

In response to the discovery of the unmetered gas usage, PGW immediately shut-off gas to these six locations. Gas remained shut off for two weeks until full payment was received. In an attempt to force PGW to restore gas service to K Laundromat, on December 23, 2004 K Laundromat filed an emergency petition with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) seeking the immediate restoration of gas service. Based on its analysis of K Laundromat’s petition and PGW’s response, the PUC denied the request.

“We have been very aggressive with our residential customers with regard to paying their bills. In many cases, these residential customers have a very difficult time paying their bills. So it is particularly egregious when a large commercial customer would expect us to take a softer stance with them. We have even higher expectations for our commercial customers,” said Thomas Knudsen, Chief Executive Officer, PGW.

In order to have gas service restored to the six K Laundromat premises, on January 4, 2005, K Laundromat paid PGW $600,000 for the cost of unmetered gas that PGW estimated to have been used in the previous year. PGW’s use of increasingly sophisticated technology and increased meter investigations and field visits should continue to lead to a reduction in the usage of unmetered gas to the benefit of PGW and its paying customers.

Founded in 1836, PGW is the nation's largest municipally owned natural gas utility, serving a half million residential, commercial, and industrial customers, and Philadelphia's choice for quality energy solutions.