[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...1c732482044.txt

NIPSCO seeking natural gas adjustment

Published: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 4:16 AM CST
MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Northern Indiana Public Service Co. said it plans to ask state utility regulators to adjust its rates for natural gas for the first time in more than 20 years.

NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer said the utility has not yet determined the exact impact of any proposed changes in gas rates on customer’s bills. The utility did not say whether it would seek an increase or a decrease.

NIPSCO has 712,000 natural gas customers in northern Indiana.

Robert Skaggs Jr., CEO of NIPSCO parent company NiSource, told Wall Street analysts about the rate case Monday.

Skaggs said that the company’s natural gas subsidiaries in Massachusetts and Kentucky won increases this past year, and a Pennsylvania subsidiary last week filed a rate case there that would hike residential customers’ gas bills 6.9 percent.

NIPSCO hasn’t filed a base rate case for natural gas since 1987, though it has added surcharges to pay for environmental improvements. A combined conservation and rate simplification plan approved by state regulators three years ago resulted in higher charges for residential customers using more than 200 therms of natural gas per month.

“Because it has been some time since our last gas rate case filing, there is a need for a redesign of existing rates,” Meyer said.

Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Danielle McGrath said NIPSCO representatives met informally with officials to discuss the proposed rate case last month.

Consumer advocates said they would be watching closely.

“We will give it a very hard, thorough, detailed look,” said Anthony Swinger, a spokesman for the state Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, which represents ratepayers before the Utility Regulatory Commission.

Swinger noted that the rate case would be subject to regulatory review and public comment.

Kerwin Olson, the program director for the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, said that group also would take a close look at NIPSCO’s proposal.

“We would hope NIPSCO considers the economic realities of today and tightens their belts and cut costs wherever possible, just like most of their customers have had to do to get through this recession,” Olson said.

NIPSCO already has requested an electric rate hike that would increase a typical residential customers’ bill 15.6 percent, and Skaggs said the utility plans to file for a second electric rate increase by the end of the year to cover pension costs and reflect changes in demand for power. That case will not be decided by regulators until at least 2011.

Meyer said NIPSCO is looking at including a low-income energy assistance program and an energy efficiency program in its gas rate request.

Any rate change would affect the delivery portion of a customer’s gas bill, which typically accounts for 25 percent of the charges. NIPSCO’s charge for the natural gas itself is directly tied to the wholesale price of natural gas under state regulation.

[JHeath]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we already have some of the highest rates in the country?