AGL rate increase debate to begin
Atlanta Gas Light will argue its case for a 14 percent rate hike Tuesday at the state Public Service Commission, kicking off a season of debate over rising utility costs.
In the next five months, the commission will rule on rate increases for both AGL and Georgia Power.
AGL is asking for $54 million in new revenue, nearly $50 million of which will come from residential customers.
If approved in full, the increase would add $3 to the roughly $21.75 portion of a residential gas bill that goes to the pipeline distribution company. Atlanta Gas Light builds, operates and maintains the pipes that deliver gas from retail marketers.
The company’s 1.5 million customers in Georgia pay the AGL distribution charge regardless of their marketer and regardless of how much gas they use.
The company says it earned less than allowed in both 2008 and 2009, because of the recession. About $18 million of its requested hike would go to cover operating costs and boost that allowed return on its investments.
Another $13 million would fund a menu of service improvements, including rebates and vouchers to help customers buy or repair gas-burning appliances. The rest stems from proposed policy changes, including one that would require the utility to pay its parent, AGL Resources, for back-office savings derived from AGL Resources' acquisitions of other companies.
The company hasn't had a rate increase since 1993. It has, however, won approval for other ways of increasing its revenue from customers.
One fee, initiated in 1998, allowed the company to increase bills to replace aging pipelines: AGL Resources has mentioned it as a key revenue source in earnings reports.
Another fee, approved last fall, allows AGL to collect hundreds of millions in new revenues to pay for improvements to its pipeline system.
Next week's hearings begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the PSC offices on Washington Street in downtown Atlanta. Two other formal rounds of hearings will follow, with a ruling due in November. The PSC is also holding less formal hearings around the state, including a Sept. 13 one in Atlanta, specifically to hear from customers.
