Gas line project, surcharges OK'd for Atlanta Gas Light

By David Markiewicz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Georgia Public Service Commission Tuesday cleared the first phase of a gas pipeline expansion program, but only after deciding residential customers will be charged as much for it as business customers.

The commission, on a 4-1 vote, approved the three-year, $175 million first phase of a 10-year, $400 million gas pipeline expansion program proposed by Atlanta Gas Light.

The need for the expansion has not generated much debate, but the decision on how to fund it did.

Initially, AGL had proposed that residential customers pay 95 cents more each month, with businesses paying an extra $2.85 per month.

Instead, residential customers and businesses will pay the same amount: an extra 39 cents monthly, starting with the next bill, until October, 2010; 78 cents more each month from then until October 2011; and $1.18 more from then through 2022.

Commissioner Robert Baker called the decision to charge residential and business customers the same amount “egregious” and “regressive” and said it sets a bad precedent.

Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, who proposed the payment plan, said businesses are under financial pressure.

When Baker asked who residential customers can “pass on” their higher gas costs to, McDonald said, “The residential customer will get it one way or another.”

McDonald also said having ratepayers pay less in the first two years of the program, “phases in the financial impact over time.”

All natural gas users are expected to benefit from lower overall prices this winter.

The Energy Information Administration said Tuesday that households nationwide are expected to pay an average of $783, nearly 12 percent less than last winter, for natural gas.

The agency cautioned that the projections reflect average costs and depend on factors including weather. It said prices are expected to remain low through October and then increase slightly as demand picks up.

Wire services contributed