Retail gas marketers won a major victory yesterday when aGeorgia Public Service Commission hearing officer ordered AtlantaGas Light’s unregulated marketing affiliate to “immediatelydiscontinue” the use of the name Atlanta Gas Light Services (AGLS)and stop referring to its heritage, reliability and trustworthinesswith respect to its affiliation with the state’s largest gasutility.

The order is effective July 23 unless challenged, in which casethe Commission will vote on it.

The AGL Resources subsidiary announced in April that it waschanging its name to AGLS from The Energy Spring Inc. At the time,AGLS President Stephen Gunther said, “Customers have a right toknow with whom they are doing business,” i.e., a company Georgianshave “known and trusted for reliable gas service for many years.”

Shortly thereafter, complaints were filed by a number of retailmarketers, including PanCanadian Energy Services, UtilityManagement Corp., Infinite Energy, Petroleum Source and Systems,Fina Natural Gas, Optimum Energy Sources and SCANA EnergyMarketing. The marketers said the name change and use of logos andtrademarks by AGLS violated the Georgia Gas Competition andDeregulation Act and gave the utility affiliate an unfairadvantage. AGLS argued the first amendment prohibited thecommission from issuing a cease and desist order directing it torefrain from using “Atlanta Gas Light” in its name.

But a PSC hearing officer said the utility affiliates use of thename violated a 1980 decision by the Supreme Court, which statedthat for commercial speech to be protected by the First Amendmentit must not be misleading. “Contrary to the arguments that havebeen made, the similarity in names of the present retail supplier,Atlanta Gas Light Company, and the marketer, Atlanta Gas LightServices Inc., is so close that confusion of the identity of thetwo is assured.” The officer also ruled a disclaimer printed nextto the name would not “adequately level the playing field in thesame manner as restricting AGLS from using the phrase ‘Atlanta GasLight’ in its name. By outright prohibiting the use of thename.AGLS will be on equal footing with other marketers.[and] willincrease the level of natural gas competition in Georgia.”

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