Most B.C. residents will be paying about four per cent more for natural gas starting New Year's Day even though the cost of natural gas itself has not increased.

Terasen Gas, which delivers natural gas and piped propane to about 900,000 customers in 125 B.C. communities, blames the hike on the cost of managing a new program, which was supposed to increase price competition by allowing other companies to sell gas to customers using the Terasen infrastructure.

The aggressive door-to-door sales tactics associated with the controversial program were also named as one of the top 10 scams in B.C. in 2007 by the Better Business Bureau on Tuesday.

Terasen also blamed higher costs for storing, transporting and managing the gas for contributing to the price hike.

The B.C. Utilities Commission has approved a rate hike for Terasen, meaning the annual gas bill for residential customers in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Interior, North and the Kootenays will jump between $43 and $51 a year.

Because of a second, separate increase taking effect in February, people in Fort Nelson will see an even bigger increase, of up to $70 a year, while customers on Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and in Powell River will pay only an extra $4 a year.

With files from the Canadian Press