Unitil Corp., the utility that serves Fitchburg, Lunenberg and Townsend, reported a loss of $100,000 for its most recent fiscal quarter, a 75-percent drop from the loss it declared in the second quarter of 2012.
Yet the company, based in Hampton, N.H., said today that it earned $10.7 million for the first six months of 2013, which is 24 percent better than the first half of last year.
The company reported a 12.2-percent increase in natural gas sales during the quarter, compared with just 1.7 percent for electricity. It said the jump in sales – coupled with lower borrowing costs – was offset by higher operating costs.
“Our earnings continue to reflect the strong growth in our gas customer base as more and more households and businesses in the areas we serve are choosing natural gas as their preferred source of energy,” said chairman and CEO Robert G. Schoenberger. “Natural gas offers our customers the best choice of value in terms of its superior efficiency, convenience and low cost compared to competing fuels such as oil and propane.”
Schoenberger also said improving economic conditions and more normal weather this year helped boost gas and electric sales and margins.
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