NW Natural Case Update
Posted on October 4, 2012 by Sommer Moser
Tags, Utility Regulation
CUB has been working hard all year on NW Natural’s General Rate Case and over the last few weeks the case has really come to a head. Throughout the year, CUB and some of the other parties have resolved some, but not all, of our concerns with certain issues and are now waiting for the Commission to analyze the case and issue a final ruling that we hope will include approval of the settlement agreements. There are a handful of outstanding issues that we continue to litigate, so we don’t have the final number for how things are going to shake out. But, we’re happy to give a brief update on some of CUB’s accomplishments on behalf of residential ratepayers (again, with the caveat that the settlement agreements must be approved by the Commission).
From the outset, CUB was appalled that NW Natural asked the Commission for a $43.7 million general rate increase, which is roughly equal to a 6.2% increase. The Company initially sought to saddle residential customers with a whopping 10.5% increase, in light of the fact that the Company has been over-earning and Oregon families are still struggling with unemployment and the economic downturn. It’s unfortunate that the nature of rate cases means that no one is getting a rate decrease, but CUB was able to talk the Company down and we’ve settled on a lower increase for residential customers than the Company was proposing.
NW Natural also sought to change its residential rate design, which included raising the monthly base customer charge from $6 to as much as $29 over a 3 year period—meaning that even customers who don’t use gas in the summer months would still see a $29 bill. Though the total amount that all customers would pay for gas over the course of the year wouldn’t have changed, it just seemed fundamentally unfair to change the structure in this way. As such, CUB fought hard and the parties agreed to stipulate to an $8/month customer charge.
There are lots of other issues to discuss and savings that were negotiated, but we’ll save that for a longer, more in-depth post after this case is fully resolved. For now, we’re working hard to prepare for oral arguments and finish up the last of our legal briefs.
It’s been a busy year, and especially a busy fall. We’re excited about the progress that we’ve made in the name of Oregon’s residential customers!
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03/31/17 | 0 Comments | NW Natural Case Update