LDCs Blast Latest Rate Increase Sought by Portland Natural Gas; Shippers Group Claims Pipeline is Seeking Second Bite at the Apple While Prior Settlements are Pending

摘要

The National Grid Gas Delivery Companies protested and requested full suspension and hearing of a rate filing on May 12 of Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) (RP10-729). Separately, an ad hoc group of firm shipper customers including Bay State Gas Co., Northern Utilities, Inc., DTE Energy Trading, Inc., H.Q. Energy Services (U.S.) Inc., New Page Corp. and Wausau Paper Mills, LLC (the PNGTS Shippers' Group) moved to intervene, jointly and separately, and concurrently protested and moved for partial summary disposition of the general rate increase and tariff change filing. Each member of this group holds a long-term (e.g. 20-year) firm transportation (FT) agreement with PNGTS executed prior to or shortly after the time the PNGTS system was first placed in service. Cumulatively, Shippers' Group FT agreements cover 134,200 MMBtu's of contracted transportation, which represents over 99% of the long-term firm capacity held by shippers not affiliated with PNGTS, and approximately 89% of the total firm capacity PNGTS currently has under long-term contract. Shippers' Group members each transport gas on PNGTS and pay PNGTS rates based on their FT maximum daily quantities. A third protest to the filing was launched last week by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).