As part of a general rate increase Questar Gas is seeking fromthe Utah Public Service Commission, the company wants to recovercosts of supporting the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.While Questar says the Olympics increase — $500,000 per year forfour years — is only a sliver of the $22.5 million requested,consumer advocates are howling, saying it’s an unauthorized tax tosupport the games.

Questar Gas is the official gas supplier to the games, andQuestar Corp., the LDC’s parent, has agreed to provide between $5million and $10 million in cash, gas service and technicalexpertise to the games in exchange for promotional considerationand perks, such as access to Olympic events. Questar has 665,000customers in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. The Olympic rate increasewould apply only to customers in Utah and southern Idaho, thecompany said.

“We’re disappointed by the way it’s being characterized in thepress locally,” said Questar spokesman Chad Jones. There are peoplehere who don’t support the Olympics… We’re fully behind theOlympic effort.”

Questar’s argument is the cost of Olympic sponsorship can beconsidered an economic development expense. “In the past, the UtahPublic Service Commission at least has ruled that economicdevelopment is in the public interest, and they have covered someof our economic development costs. That’s how we’ve approached theOlympics from the beginning.”

Opponents of the rate increase for Olympic sponsorship arguethat it was agreed the games would result in no new taxes forresidents. “We’re just opposing it because people in Utah were toldthat there would be no tax increase to fund the Olympic games,”said Glenn Bailey, executive director of the Crossroads UrbanCenter, an area advocate for the poor. “People have no choice butto pay that because of the monopoly situation. It basically amountsto a tax increase on everybody who uses natural gas, and that’s themajority of the population.”

Bailey said his group would participate in the rate case. Adecision in the case is not expected for about eight months.

The annual cost to consumers subject to the Olympic portion ofthe rate increase would be about 40 cents per year. If the entirerate increase requested by Questar is approved, the annual bill forthe typical residential customer using 115 dekatherms/year wouldincrease from $601 to $640, and average monthly increase of $3.25,or 6.5%.

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