What Does Peoples Gas Cover: Leaks, Protection, and Assistance

Peoples Gas covers the delivery of natural gas through its underground pipes up to and including your meter, plus round-the-clock response to suspected leaks. Everything past the meter, including the pipes inside your walls and the appliances they feed, is your responsibility unless you buy one of the optional protection plans the utility sells on top of standard service. If you’re asking what Peoples Gas covers, the honest answer has three layers: the utility service itself, the add-ons you can subscribe to, and the assistance programs that can lower what you owe.

Three separate companies share the Peoples Gas name, each with its own regulator and rate structure: Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company in Chicago, Peoples Natural Gas in Western Pennsylvania (with Delta Natural Gas in Kentucky), and Peoples Gas System in Florida.¹²³ The specifics below are mostly from the Chicago and Pennsylvania operations; the broad shape of what’s covered is the same, but prices and program names vary.

Where the Utility’s Responsibility Ends and Yours Begins

Peoples Gas owns and maintains the mains, the service line to your property, and the meter itself. When a meter sits three or more feet from the building, the utility also monitors the piping between the meter and the outside wall for corrosion and leaks, though that pipe technically belongs to the property owner and any repair costs fall on the homeowner.⁴

Past the meter, nothing is covered by standard service. That means every interior gas line to your furnace, stove, water heater, dryer, or boiler, plus any outdoor lines feeding grills, pool heaters, or gas lamps. You handle the inspections and the repairs. Peoples Gas recommends having a qualified contractor check any buried customer-owned piping annually.⁴

Peoples Gas also does not produce natural gas. It buys gas on the wholesale market and passes the commodity cost through to you without markup, which is why the “gas charge” portion of your bill moves with the market.⁵

What’s on Your Bill

A Chicago residential bill bundles several charges that together pay for the service Peoples Gas delivers:

Customer charge: a fixed monthly fee covering the cost of making service available regardless of use. It funds mains, meters, meter reading, emergency response, and safety programs. As of January 2026, it is $25.81 per month, with supplemental charges bringing the effective fixed amount to roughly $28.75.⁶⁷
Gas charge: the actual cost of the natural gas, passed through at market price. In early 2026, supply prices were roughly 25% higher than a year earlier.⁸
Distribution charge: a per-therm charge based on how much gas you used.
Storage service charge: covers buying and storing gas during low-price periods for winter use.
Environmental charge: funds cleanup of former manufactured gas plant sites.
Energy efficiency program charge: supports rebate and weatherization programs.
Low income discount adjustment: a surcharge that funds the Low Income Discount Rate program, reported at roughly $5.27 per month for Peoples Gas customers.⁹
Taxes: Chicago municipal, Illinois state, state gas revenue tax, and related adjustments.⁵

Pennsylvania bills follow a similar logic (fixed customer charge, usage-based delivery charge, commodity charge), but the rates and riders are set by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and look different line by line.¹⁰

Emergency Leak Response Is Covered

Suspected gas leaks are a core part of what the utility covers at no additional charge. If you smell gas, leave the area without operating electrical switches, phones, or vehicles that could spark, then call from a safe distance. In Chicago, the emergency line is 866-556-6002.¹¹ In Florida, it is 877-832-6747. Safety personnel treat leaks as the highest priority and must give clearance before anyone re-enters the building.¹²

What You Can Pay Extra to Cover

Peoples sells optional protection plans billed on your monthly statement. These are subscriptions, not insurance in the regulated sense, and they are what fill the gap between the meter and the rest of your home. Without them, repairs on customer-owned pipe and equipment come out of pocket.

Line Protection

Gas service line protection, $4.30/month: the pipe from the curb box on the main to your meter, up to two inches in diameter and 125 feet long.¹³¹⁴
Gas in-house line protection, $4.05/month: interior lines from the meter to appliance connectors. Claims capped at $1,000. Does not cover any external line, and does not restore drywall, paint, or ceilings.¹⁴
Gas underground house line protection, $4.30/month: the underground line from a remote meter set to the home’s foundation.¹³
Water service line protection, $4.30/month: the water line from the curb box to the water meter.
Sewer service line protection, $6.75/month: the sewer line from the main to the home’s foundation.¹³

For the gas service line and underground house line plans, restoration after a dig is limited to backfilling. Lawn, concrete, and asphalt restoration is an extra $2.00/month per applicable program. Properties generally must be within 125 feet of the street, and the applicant must own the property. Coverage is single-family residential only; multi-unit and commercial properties are excluded, as are pre-existing conditions, damage caused by the customer or third parties, and force majeure events.¹³¹⁴

Appliance and Equipment Protection

Heating protection runs $7.95/month and covers furnace wear and tear. Cooling protection is also $7.95/month for central air conditioners. Water heater service plans, offered through a 2022 partnership with HomeServe USA, range from $6.99 to $13.99/month depending on whether you want repair-only or repair-plus-replacement coverage.¹⁵ Bundle packages combining multiple protections run $8.60 to $11.05/month and include one free service for at least a year. Claims go through a 24-hour line, and repairs are performed by contractors in the Peoples network.¹³

Programs That Reduce What You Pay

Several programs can lower your actual bill, which changes the practical answer to what Peoples Gas “covers” for you.

Low Income Discount Rate (Chicago)

Chicago customers with household incomes at or below 300% of the federal poverty level qualify for a tiered discount that took effect in October 2024. The discount ranges from 5% for households between 201% and 300% of poverty up to 83% for those at or below 50%. LIHEAP recipients in Tiers 1 through 4 are enrolled automatically; Tier 5 customers have to contact Peoples Gas directly. In 2025, about 107,520 Peoples Gas customers received a combined $79.5 million in credits.¹⁶¹⁷

LIHEAP and PIPP (Chicago)

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program offers a once-a-year grant toward energy bills for income-eligible households. Applications open October 1 for seniors, people with disabilities, families with young children, and disconnected households, and November 1 for everyone else, running until August 15 or until funds are exhausted.¹⁸ The Percentage of Income Payment Plan is an alternative: eligible customers go on budget billing and pay a set percentage of income each month while the state covers the remainder. Past-due balances are set aside and reduced with each on-time payment. You cannot be on PIPP and regular LIHEAP at the same time, and a missed payment or a failure to recertify annually can drop you from the program.¹⁹

Customer Assistance Program (Pennsylvania)

Pennsylvania’s version sets monthly payments at 4% to 6% of a customer’s gross monthly income instead of basing them on actual usage. You need active residential heating service and household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. For a single-person household, that caps monthly income at $2,660; for a four-person household, $5,500. Enrollment goes through the Dollar Energy Fund.²⁰²¹

Rebates and Weatherization

Peoples Gas also covers part of the cost of efficiency upgrades. In Chicago, the Energy Efficiency Program offers rebates on qualifying furnaces, boilers, gas heat pumps, tankless water heaters, smart thermostats, and insulation. Weatherization rebates include up to $400 for air sealing, up to $400 for wall insulation, up to $500 for attic insulation, and up to $400 for duct sealing, with a $1,200 project maximum. Work must be done by program-approved contractors, and rebates are applied as instant discounts. An on-bill financing option through the Illinois Energy Efficiency Loan Program lets you pay for improvements through your monthly gas bill.²²

In Pennsylvania, the Usage Reduction Program provides free weatherization (heating system improvements, insulation, caulking, weather-stripping) to income-eligible customers who have lived in their home for at least a year. A separate Emergency Furnace and Line Repair Program covers furnace and line repairs for qualifying customers.²³

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Peoples Gas. Service Area
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Peoples Gas. Customer-Owned Piping FAQ
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Peoples Gas. Reading Your Bill
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Citizens Utility Board. New Gas Rates in 2026
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Peoples Gas. Choices for You Terms
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Citizens Utility Board. CUB Statement on Peoples Gas Proposed Rate Hike
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ABC7 Chicago. Extra Charge on Peoples Gas Bill Helps Pay for Low-Income Discount Rate Program
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Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. PUC to Investigate Rate Increase Request by Peoples Natural Gas
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Peoples Gas. Emergency Information
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Peoples Gas. If You Smell Gas
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Peoples Gas. Protection Programs
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Peoples Gas. Line Protection Program Terms and Conditions
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HomeServe. Peoples Launches Water Heater Service Plans
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Illinois Commerce Commission. Low Income Discount Program Summary
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Citizens Utility Board. Helpful Info on the Low-Income Discount Rate for Gas Customers in Illinois
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Peoples Gas. LIHEAP
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Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. PIPP Brochure
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Peoples Gas. Customer Assistance Program
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Dollar Energy Fund. Peoples Pennsylvania Customer Assistance Program
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Peoples Gas. Residential Rebates
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Peoples Gas. Usage Reduction Program