State of Washington regulatory commission staff Wednesday lodged allegations against Puget Sound Energy (PSE) that the combination utility improperly charged residential customers for reconnection of their natural gas and electric service in violation of state consumer protection rules. The staff of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) alleges 1,639 violations by PSE. Those allegations are separate from an ongoing case involving a $104,300 penalty already assessed the Bellevue, WA-based utility for violating an order directing it to correct the use of its “refusal of service” requirements (see Daily GPI, Oct. 27). The UTC staff is asking that more than 1,600 customers allegedly charged a $13 field visit disconnection fee in error be reimbursed by the utility, following an investigation that spanned from March to May this year.

Unit Corp.‘s Superior Pipeline Co. LLC is installing a 30 MMcf/d cryogenic processing facility in Kay County, OK, and has entered into a long-term agreement with producer Range Resources Corp. for service at the new plant. Start-up is expected during the second quarter. Superior said the project is in line with its plans to build greenfield gathering and processing infrastructure in the Mississippian trend. “We are constructing this plant with the flexibility to accommodate future expansions as we contract to receive additional gas volumes in northern Oklahoma,” said Superior President Bob Parks. “This plant, along with our existing assets accessing the Mississippian trend, will bring our overall processing capacity in the region to over 100 MMcf/d.”

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