Corporation

Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) — a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL Resources Inc. — filed a proposal Friday with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (VSCC) to freeze its base rates for five years under a Performance-Based Regulation (PBR) plan. The company, however, also filed an alternative traditional rate case, responding to a VSCC directive to file a new rate case by July 1, 2005.

At the request of El Paso Natural Gas Co. and in response to its own concerns about increasing the state’s access to natural gas supply, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Tuesday decided to write to El Paso and the Navajo Nation urging the two sides to reach an agreement allowing the interstate pipeline operator to expand the width of an existing east-west corridor that crosses a large chunk of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. The two sides have been in negotiations for months without any resolution.

At the request of El Paso Natural Gas Co. and in response to its own concerns about increasing the state’s access to natural gas supply, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Tuesday decided to write to El Paso and the Navajo Nation urging the two sides to reach an agreement allowing the interstate pipeline operator to expand the width of an existing east-west corridor that crosses a large chunk of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. The two sides have been in negotiations for months without any resolution.

Some Roanoke Gas Co. customers in Virginia will be receiving refunds, with interest, following a decision Friday by the State Corporation Commission of Virginia (SCC), which approved a reduced rate increase request by the utility. Roanoke Gas customers have been paying higher natural gas rates since Oct. 23, 2004, the date that a requested increase was allowed to go into effect on an interim basis pending an SCC decision. The company originally sought an increase of $1.13 million, or 1.31%. Upon a review of the request, the company and SCC staff reached an agreement to lower the request by $278,306. Roanoke Gas was directed to recalculate all bills issued since Oct. 23, 2004, and in cases where the application of the new rates results in a reduced bill for a customer, the company will refund the difference with interest. The SCC’s final order allows Roanoke Gas to collect an additional $856,859 in annual operating revenue, an increase of 0.99%. For the average residential customer using 75 therms of natural gas in a month, the gas bill will increase by 85 cents.

A group calling itself the Mirant Shareholder Rights Group released several statements last week, blasting bankrupt Mirant’s board and management team for deliberately undervaluing the company’s assets and paying excessive executive compensation despite a “track record of failures.”

After studying Kansas City-based Aquila Inc.’s finances exhaustively, the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) said last week that the debt-burdened company may have no other choice than to divest some or all of its domestic utilities in order to fix its balance sheet.

After studying Kansas City-based Aquila Inc.’s finances exhaustively, the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) said Tuesday the debt-burdened company may have no other choice than to divest some or all of its domestic utilities in order to fix its balance sheet.

ONEOK utility subsidiary Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. (ONG) filed a $99.4 million annual revenue increase Friday with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. ONG said the increase, which would be about $10/month for the average residential customer, would cover additional investments in its distribution system, higher operational costs and taxes.

In what was more like an end-of-the-campaign political rally, four incumbent Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) members who were re-elected last fall were sworn in for their new staggered terms on the five-member regulatory panel. Each commissioner thanked spouses, family members, campaign workers and ongoing ACC staff members for support in the election campaigns during a brief ceremony in Phoenix.