NW Natural Wants to Collect $81 Million More From Customers
Posted on February 25, 2022 by Will Gehrke
Tags, Energy
NW Natural is seeking to increase its rates by $81 million. Under NW Natural’s proposal, residential customers would see a rate increase of $57 million, or 11.8 percent.
Despite seeking this double-digit percentage increase, NW Natural is also asking regulators to increase its profit margin. CUB has hired an external expert to push back on NW Natural’s request. Oregon’s families and businesses cannot afford such a large increase in their household energy burdens.
NW Natural also wants millions of dollars to pay for its employee and executive bonuses. Historically, Oregon has not allowed any recovery of executive bonuses from utility customers. And the cost of employee bonuses has been split between shareholders and customers. CUB is opposing NW Natural’s proposal because bonuses mainly benefit shareholders.
CUB is evaluating a proposal to remove customer deposits for NW Natural’s residential customers. In Portland General Electric’s recent rate case, CUB convinced that utility to stop charging deposits to residential customers. This agreement is pending approval from Oregon regulators.
NW Natural’s request also includes the cost of several capital projects. One major driver of this general rate case is IT projects. NW Natural is currently working to replace its antiquated corporate accounting system.
Cybersecurity concerns are also imposing major costs on NW Natural customers. In May 2021, the Colonial Pipeline, located in the Southeastern US, was shut down for five days due to a cyber-attack. The Colonial pipeline shutdown was a major event that led to gasoline shortages and hoarding in the region.
The Transportation Security Administration quickly issued a wide-reaching security directive on natural gas pipeline operators. This directive has imposed substantial costs on NW Natural. The company is seeking to recover those costs in its rate request.
It is shaping up to be another busy year for CUB. There are at least four Oregon utilities seeking rate increases in 2022. CUB will continue to advocate for customer interests in all the proceedings.
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02/25/22 | 3 Comments | NW Natural Wants to Collect $81 Million More From Customers