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PUC Finalizes Changes To Promote Natural Gas Market Competition
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The Public Utility Commission this week issued final regulations to promote competition for natural gas suppliers as part of its ongoing efforts to remove barriers to retail natural gas competition so consumers can benefit from competitive options for natural gas supply.
The Commission voted 3-2 to approve a motion by Chairman James H. Cawley to ensure that the price to compare, and the allocation of costs related to the Supplier of Last Resort service, reflects the full cost of providing this service to SOLR customers.
Vice Chairman Tyrone J. Christy issued a dissenting statement. Commissioner Wayne E. Gardner also issued a dissenting in part statement.
The Commission voted 4-1 issue a final rulemaking that is designed to make it easier for consumers to compare natural gas prices offered by natural gas distribution companies and natural gas suppliers, removed certain cost barriers to NGSs, and enhanced NGDC service provisions to NGSs.
The goal of the rulemaking is to foster a competitive retail marketplace for natural gas service.
The final rulemaking will:
-- Reformulate the “price to compare” used by consumers to judge whether the price offered by a competitive NGS is better than the one being offered by the incumbent NGDC;
-- Make permanent rules for establishing voluntary purchase of receivables programs; and
-- Provide guidance to ensure that the release, assignment or transfer of capacity by an NGDC to a NGS is nondiscriminatory and is at the applicable contract rate.
This action is part of the Commission’s ongoing implementation of an action plan designed to increase effective competition in the retail market for natural gas supply. The action plan was approved on September 11, 2008. This followed a Commission finding that “effective competition” did not exist in the retail natural gas supply market statewide.
The PUC then convened natural gas industry stakeholders to examine avenues to increase competition. The name SEARCH (Stakeholders Exploring Avenues for Removing Competition Hurdles) was adopted for these group meetings.
The proposed rulemaking order was entered on March 27, 2009. Interested parties had an opportunity to file comments on the proposed rulemaking order, which was published on July 11, 2009, in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
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1/17/2011 |
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