Heading into the cooler months, an energy company is lowering gas bills for New Jersey customers.

The plan has been in the works for months, but PSE&G officially announced on Thursday that gas bills for residential customers should go down by about 5%.

The change is set to take effect on Oct. 1.

The utility credits solid cost management and less volatile commodity prices for the break.

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"This is an opportunity to lower our gas supply rate, providing our customers with some price relief and helping to maintain affordability," said PSE&G's Dave Johnson.

PSE&G made the rate-cut proposal to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in May. NJBPU approved the move on Wednesday.

How much can I save?

With NJBPU's approval, the Basic Gas Supply Service rate — the actual cost utilities pay for natural gas — is being reduced by almost 7 cents per therm, PSE&G said.

That's the main driver behind the lower bills.

With this change, a PSE&G residential customer who uses an average of 100 therms per month will have a monthly gas bill of approximately $104, the utility said. That's a reduction of about $6.

In early September, New Jersey American Water announced that the cost of service would be going up, effective. Sept. 15. The average customer is paying $5.32 more per month.

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