010120051 September 12
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
OF WEST VIRGINIA
CHARLESTON
CASE NO. 17-1066-G-390P
MOUNTAINEER GAS COMPANY
Infrastructure Replacement and Expansion
Program Filing for 2018
NOTICE OF FILING AND HEARING
On July 31, 2017, Mountaineer Gas Company (Mountaineer) filed its annual Application for approval of an Infrastructure Replacement and Expansion Program for 2018 (2018 IREP) with revised IREP rates for 2018, pursuant to W.Va. Code ยง24-2-1k, which authorizes the Public Service Commission of West Virginia to approve cost recovery of projects to replace, upgrade and expand natural gas utility infrastructure that are deemed to be just and reasonable and in the public interest. In its Application, Mountaineer has updated its five-year IREP plan which includes the Eastern Panhandle Expansion project (Expansion Project) to enhance service to the West Virginia, Eastern Panhandle.
In its Application, Mountaineer forecasts capital investment for calendar year 2018 of approximately $54 million as part of its multi-year plan which includes $30 million for Segment 1 of the Expansion Project. The 2018 IREP covers several categories of plant asset replacements and improvements, including mains, service lines, automated meter reading devices, regulator stations, and land and land rights. These plant investments are proposed to be made in Mountaineer service territories throughout the State. These investments and the Expansion Project are identified in the Application, which is on file and available for public inspection at the Commission’s offices at 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, West Virginia, and which may be viewed on the Commission’s website, www.psc.state.wv.us.
Mountaineer proposes to recover costs associated with these investments through an additional increment within the fixed or volumetric base rate component of its rates, depending on the applicable rate schedule, that is to be cumulative of the 2017 IREP Rate Component now in place and to be effective on January 1, 2018. Mountaineer projects that if the program and rate increment are approved as requested, the average monthly bill for its various classes of customers will be changed on January 1, 2018 in accordance with
Column A.
The increases shown above are based on averages of all customers in the indicated class. Each class may receive an increase greater or less than stated here. Individual customers may receive increases that are greater or less than average.
The Commission set a procedural schedule, including a hearing date on the Application, if necessary, that will begin at 9:30 a.m. on November 1, 2017 in the Howard M. Cunningham Hearing Room at the Commission’s offices at 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, West Virginia. If no opposition to the Application is received by the Commission within one week of the hearing date, the hearing may be waived and the Commission may issue a final order within 150 days of the Application filing date.
Anyone desiring to intervene should file a written petition to intervene within 20 days following the date of this publication unless otherwise modified by Commission order. All requests to intervene should briefly state the reason for the request to intervene and comply with the rules on intervention set forth in the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure. The Commission will receive public comments until the beginning of the hearing. All written comments and requests to intervene should state the case name and number and be addressed to Ingrid Ferrell, Executive Secretary, P.O. Box 812, Charleston, West Virginia 25323. Public comments may also be filed online at http:/www.psc.state. wv.us/scripts/onlinecomments/default.cfm by clicking the "Formal Case" link.