Today's Request Will Not Impact Rates This Winter

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Laclede Gas Company, a subsidiary of The Laclede Group (NYSE: LG), today filed a rate case with the Missouri Public Service Commission (MPSC) requesting to recover increased costs primarily related to its operation of 16,000 miles of pipeline infrastructure and related distribution activities.

Today's filing represents a net revenue increase of $52.6 million annually, if approved in its entirety next year, to offset the Company's increased costs of providing natural gas service to its customers. The average increase to be paid by a typical residential customer would be approximately $5.59 per month.

Today's request will not impact rates this heating season (November 2009 - March 2010), which the Company lowered effective November 17 to reflect reduced natural gas prices. Therefore, the amount to be paid by a typical residential customer during the 2009-10 heating season will be down roughly $25 per month from the amount the customer would have paid based on last winter's rates, assuming normal winter weather.

"We continuously work at keeping our operating costs in check so that our base rates remain at reasonable levels for our customers," said Douglas H. Yaeger, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Laclede Gas. "There is, however, an ongoing need for maintenance, repair and replacement throughout our extensive pipeline system. We have invested more than $150 million in our infrastructure over the past three years to ensure our customers have the safe and reliable natural gas service they have come to expect from us, which makes the need to recover these costs critical."

The Company will continue to offer customer-care programs that focus on energy efficiency for all customers and energy assistance for customers in need.

Laclede Gas Company has provided safe and reliable service to the residents of the St. Louis metropolitan area for more than 150 years. It is the largest gas distribution company in Missouri, serving customers in St. Louis and surrounding counties in Eastern Missouri.

SOURCE The Laclede Group

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