YAKIMA, Wash. -- Cascade Natural Gas Corp. has made a request to the Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission to reduce rates by 13.67 percent for residential customers and 14.31 percent for commercial customers.

The reduction, which is expected to go into effect by Aug. 1, was made to reflect that decline in the wholesale price of natural gas.

If approved, this will be the second time in three months that Cascade Natural Gas has lowered rates. In May, Cascade Natural Gas dropped its rates by 6.3 percent.

A typical residential customer can expect a reduction of $10.75 on their monthly bill ,while an average commercial customer can expect a monthly decrease of $53.59.

The private utility serves about 192,000 residential and commercial customers in 65 communities across the state. Area cities served by Cascade in addition to Yakima are Kennewick, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Moses Lake.