PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
OF WEST VIRGINIA
CHARLESTON
CASE NO. 20-0418-G-3 90P
CARDINAL NATURAL GAS COMPANY
(SOUTHERN DIVISION)
Surcharge on Gas Infrastructure Improvements.
NOTICE OF FILING AND HEARING
On June 1, 2020, Cardinal Natural Gas Company (Southern Division) (Cardinal) filed its Application for approval of an Infrastructure Replacement and Expansion Program for 2021 (2021 IREP) with revised IREP rates, pursuant to W.Va. Code 24-2-1k, 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 annual Application, Cardinal forecasts capital investment for its 2021 IREP Year of approximately $1.8 million as part of its multi-year plan. The 2021 IREP covers several categories of plant asset improvements, including mains, services, meters, regulator stations, and other plant equipment. These projects are identified in the Application, which is on file and available for public inspection at the Commission’s offices at 201 Brooks Street, Charleston, West Virginia.
As in the fiscal year 2020 IREP currently in place, Cardinal proposes to recover costs associated with these investments through an increment within the volumetric base rate component of its rates, to be effective November 1, 2020. Cardinal projects that if the program and rate increment are approved as requested, the average monthly bill for its various classes of customers will be changed on November 1, 2020 as follows:
INCREASE ($) INCREASE (%) AVERAGE USAGE
Residential $5.08 5.46% 8 Mcf
General Services 1 $5.40 4.95% 10 Mcf
General Services 2 $33.30 4.00% 94 Mcf
Interruptible Sales $53.15 3.86% 179 Mcf
Interruptible
Transportation $286.16 8.47% 1,286 Mcf
The increases shown above are compared to the rates currently in place and 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. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, September 14, 2020, 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 one hundred fifty days of the Application filing date.
Anyone desiring to intervene should file a request to intervene within twenty (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 the Commission 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.
CARDINAL NATURAL GAS COMPANY (SOUTHERN DIVISION)
ID: 414947