Questar Gas Co. asked the Public Service Commission on Tuesday to reduce its natural gas rates by $38.7 million, a reduction that if approved will lower the typical homeowner's annual natural gas bill by approximately $44, or about 4 percent.

The gas company is asking that the reduction go into effect Saturday.

Natural gas prices spiked last fall after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and knocked out nearly 20 percent of U.S. natural gas supplies.

"Natural gas prices remain volatile, but recently they have dropped back down to pre-Katrina levels," Questar spokesman Chad Jones said. "And given the rough time people have had with their natural gas bills this past winter, we're acting as quickly as possible to pass the lower rates through to our customers."

Questar buys about half the natural gas it supplies its customers on the wholesale market, but it doesn't make any money on that gas. Still, when the wholesale price of the fuel rises or falls, the company needs to adjust the amount it charges customers to cover either the increased or decreased price of the fuel.

The requested reduction Tuesday follows a far bigger decrease requested by the gas company on February 1. That reduction lowered Utahns' natural gas bills by a combined $93.7 million, or about 8 percent. It meant that the typical Utahn is now paying about $8.70 less a month to heat a home and run a water heater.

"This decrease, combined with the February decrease, is a significant price reduction for our customers," Questar Gas President Alan Allred, said in a statement announcing the requested reduction. "The price of natural gas has fallen over the past three months as Gulf facilities have returned to operation."

Still, natural gas prices react to a complex combination of market forces that are constantly in flux and the possibility exists that today's downward trending prices may abruptly turn around and again head to the higher end of the spectrum.

Yet so far this year, that hasn't happened.

Early winter weather and concern about the hurricane damage to the natural gas production facilities off Louisiana and Texas pushed gas to a record high in mid-December. The weather then turned much warmer, delivering the warmest January in history, and shrinking fuel usage at factories, homes and businesses.

"We were bailed out by the mildest winter in about 70 years," said Matthew Simmons, chairman of the Houston-based energy investment bank Simmons and Co.

In the past, Questar typically asked the PSC to allow it to adjust the amount it charges its customers for natural gas twice a year - in the spring and fall. Recent price volatility has led the company to abandon that informal schedule, Jones said.

For most Utah consumers, any relief from the higher natural gas bills they've been paying is welcome news.

"Any amount will help," said Jay Evans of Salt Lake City, who works in video production for the Utah Jazz. "If we get a couple of bucks off our heating bills a month then that will help offset the high gasoline prices that we're still paying."

Bloomberg News contributed to this story.