Discontent

After emerging from what might be called the winter of discontent because of record high gas prices and demand, Bay State Gas Co. said it has decided to protect itself and its firm customers from any unexpected gas use next winter by cutting off service to interruptible (IT) customers from December 2004 through March 2005. However, some IT customers say it’s a ploy to get them to sign up for more expensive firm delivery service.

After emerging from what might be called the winter of discontent because of record high gas prices and demand, Bay State Gas Co. said it has decided to protect itself and its firm customers from any unexpected gas use by interruptible (IT) customers in the coming winter. However, some IT customers say it’s a ploy to get them to sign up for more expensive firm delivery service.

Some state officials already are dubbing the upcoming heatingseason as California’s “winter of discontent” as continued highwholesale natural gas prices are driving up consumer bills andstate regulators look at options for unbundling Southern CaliforniaGas Co.’s transmission and storage system.

The natural gas industry should be prepared to face customer uproar and attempts to impose price caps, similar to those seen this summer in San Diego, if the upcoming winter is cold enough and prices continue to hit new highs. That was the warning sounded by government and industry representatives at the crisis “summit” sponsored by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) last week in Columbus, OH.

To borrow a little from Shakespeare, the Summer of 2000 in SanDiego has been the season of consumers’ extreme discontent.Consumers burn their bills in protest, others just are burning.State officials, led by Gov. Gray Davis, claim profit-hungrynon-utility power plant owners have taken advantage of severesupply shortages to gouge consumers. But what’s the real story?

To borrow a little from Shakespeare, the Summer of 2000 in SanDiego has been the season of consumers’ extreme discontent.Consumers burn their bills in protest, others just are burning.State officials, led by Gov. Gray Davis, claim profit-hungrynon-utility power plant owners have taken advantage of severesupply shortages to gouge consumers. But what’s the real story?

It is hard to imagine in California’s current summer of extremeelectricity discontent, but Southern California Gas, the nation’slargest natural gas distributor, envisions electric generationloads dropping by up to 38% over the next 20 years, according toits latest submission to the annual California Gas Report.