NorthWestern Energy said the Montana Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved a stipulated agreement with the Montana Consumer Counsel (MCC) to settle the utility’s pending electricity and natural gas rate cases. The agreement resulted in a rate increase of about 2%, which has been in effect on an interim basis since Jan. 1. Last December NorthWestern announced the proposed settlement with the MCC, which included a $10 million annual increase in electric delivery rates, and an increase in natural gas delivery rates of $5 million annually. As part of the agreement, NorthWestern will provide 21 MW of unit-contingent power from Colstrip Unit 4 at $19/MWh below the Mid-C index price for a period of 78 months. NorthWestern will also make capital investments in 2008 and 2009 to improve and upgrade the existing electric transmission and distribution system. The company said it will recover this investment in rates over time but will not earn a rate of return on $38.8 million of the total investment. Under the terms of the agreement, NorthWestern will file another rate case in 2009. NorthWestern provides electricity and natural gas in the Upper Midwest and Northwest, serving approximately 650,000 customers in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.
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Under a stipulated agreement with the Georgia Public Service Commission, Southern Company Gas (SCG) will credit $45,000 to some of its customer accounts and contribute $100,000 to Georgia’s Low Income Heat Energy Assistance Program to settle a case in which it allegedly sent out 97,000 improper disconnect notices to the state’s customers. The commission charged that the retail marketer had threatened to disconnect customers with less than the state’s required 15-day notice and required customers to pay their entire bill instead of only the amount past due more than 45 days. The improper notices were apparently sent out between September 2002 and March 2003, and gave customers 10 days to pay or be disconnected. The commission also is evaluating the proposed use of automatic renewal provisions for fixed-rate gas contracts. Its policy statement against the use of automatic renewal provisions resulted from a new tariff filed by Shell Energy Services Co., which would have permitted the company to automatically renew a customer’s service contract without receiving affirmative consent from the consumer. Staff at the commission identified several instances where Shell Energy’s gas consumers were given only a few days to respond to a renewal, and had received “misleading and inaccurate information” about the contract renewal. The commission plans to evaluate the policy statement in conjunction with a proposed rulemaking that is pending.
Georgia Commission Fines Gas Marketer, Reviews Automatic Contract Renewals
Under a stipulated agreement with the Georgia Public Service Commission, Southern Company Gas (SCG) will credit $45,000 to some of its customer accounts and contribute $100,000 to Georgia’s Low Income Heat Energy Assistance Program to settle a case in which it allegedly sent out 97,000 improper disconnect notices to the state’s customers.
