October 4, 2004

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) today granted Peninsular Gas Company’s petition to reopen its 2004 gas cost recovery (GCR) plan proceeding.  A pre-hearing conference will be conducted at 9 a.m. on Oct. 7, allowing Peninsular Gas Company and MPSC staff to seek a prompt resolution of this matter.

“It is in the best interest of customers that the PSC review Peninsular’s potential under-recovery now,” said MPSC Chair J. Peter Lark.  “My fellow Commissioners and I want to avoid, at a time of high natural gas costs, saddling customers with the burden of paying unnecessary interest charges.”

On Sept. 30, 2003, Peninsular Gas Company filed its GCR plan and factors for the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2004.  The settlement agreement reached authorized Peninsular Gas Company to implement a GCR factor of $0.56081 per hundred cubic feet (ccf) for the billing month of January 2004, and $0.64581 per ccf for each of the billing months of February through December 2004.  The Commission approved that settlement agreement on Feb. 12, 2004.

Peninsular Gas Company is requesting that the Commission reopen its 2004 GCR proceeding because there has been a significant increase in natural gas prices.   The company estimates its current under-recovery at $660,000 and predicts that the total under-recovery could grow to $910,000, not including interest, by the end of 2004. 

The company is requesting MPSC authorization to charge, beginning with its October 2004 billing cycle, a revised GCR factor of up to $0.72863 per ccf.

Due to the urgency of the situation, the MPSC in today’s order granted Peninsular Gas Company’s request to reopen its 2004 GCR plan proceeding. 

The MPSC is an agency within the Department of Labor & Economic Growth.

Case No. U-13901

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