Atlanta Gas Light (AGL) last week asked FERC to extend thewaivers and limited jurisdiction blanket certificate that wereapproved a year ago on a limited basis to help carry out theutility’s retail gas unbundling program in Georgia.

AGL said it was seeking the extension of the authorizations inadvance of their expiration date, which is July 31st, “because ithas a pressing need for regulatory certainty and an orderlycontinuation of its unbundling in the short term. Plans [already]are underway in Georgia to transfer all merchant activities to themarketers this fall. At the same time, storage activities aremoving forward in preparation for next winter. [AGL] and thecertificated marketers…need to know how Atlanta’s upstreamstorage capacity will be allocated in the future.”

Specifically, the Atlanta, GA-based utility asked for anextension of a waiver of FERC regulations that would enable it tomake consecutive monthly prearranged releases to marketers of Part284 capacity obtained under a discounted transportation arrangementwith Southern Natural Gas, and to pass through to marketers thebenefits of other discount and negotiated deals that it may enterinto in the future. It also wants the Commission to continue thewaiver for AGL of its “shipper-must-have-title” policy so it canallocate certain interstate capacity to marketers under itsIncremental Bundled Storage Service (IBSS).

AGL urged FERC to continue the authorizations “until the earlierof March 31, 2003, or the time that the affected interstateservices either expire, are made directly assignable, or [are]converted to Part 284 service, whichever occurs sooner.” Theextended authorizations being sought will continue to be “limitedin scope and will apply only to a small fraction of Atlanta’sinterstate capacity arrangements,” it said.

Although not the “preferred option,” the utility said it wouldgo along with extending the waivers and limited jurisdictionblanket certificate for only 18 months – from Nov. 1, 1999 to March31, 2001 – if that’s the only way to obtain “favorable and promptCommission action.”

Retail unbundling in Georgia has “progressed much faster” thananyone expected or predicted partly due to FERC’s “willingness toapply its regulations and policies flexibly,” according to AGL.Currently nearly 60% of AGL’s firm customers (over 852,000 overall)have selected a certificated marketer to supply their gas needs, itsaid. The utility is expected to become fully unbundled by Oct. 1of this year, at which time its remaining merchant obligation willterminate.

Susan Parker

©Copyright 1999 Intelligence Press, Inc. All rightsreserved. The preceding news report may not be republished orredistributed in whole or in part without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.