Public and Expert Witness Hearing
Docket No. G-5 Sub 642
Annual Review of Gas Costs for Public Service Company of North Carolina, Inc.
August 9, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Commission Hearing Room 2115
Dobbs Building, 430 North Salisbury, Raleigh
Public Service Company of North Carolina (PSNC), buys, transports, distributes and sells natural gas to more than 563,000 customers in the north central, Piedmont and western areas of North Carolina. PSNC is headquartered in Gastonia, North Carolina.
Under State law [G.S. 62-133], natural gas local distribution companies earn a return on the investments they have made in their distribution networks in order to serve customers. They are also allowed to charge customers (without adding a margin or earning a return) for their prudently incurred expenses, including the wholesale cost of natural gas and pipeline transportation charges.
State Law G.S. 62-133.4(c) requires each gas distribution company to file annually with the Commission information that lets the Commission compare its wholesale gas and gas transportation costs with the gas revenues that it has collected from its customers during the 12-month period. The Commission decides whether the gas distributor was prudent as it incurred its gas costs. If prudently incurred gas costs are greater or less than the collected gas revenues, the Commission can order changes to customer rates.
Commission Rule R1-17(k)(6)(a) requires PSNC to file by June 1 each year information showing the Company’s actual gas costs for the year ending March 31, the amount of gas it purchased, the amount of gas it sold, and other information, along with expert witness testimony. PSNC filed the required information on June 1, 2022.
The Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission is investigating this matter on behalf of the using and consuming public. The Commission is holding a hearing on August 9, 2022, to receive public and expert witness testimony on this matter. At the beginning of the hearing, at 10:00 a.m., PSNC customers will have an opportunity to provide brief testimony.
Documents related to this matter can be found here.
Here is information about providing testimony at a public hearing.
Customers can submit written statements to the Commission via email. Be sure to include the docket number in the subject line. Another option is to mail a statement to the Commission at the address below. In either case, after two or three business days, statements are made part of the official record for the proceeding, and can be viewed on this website via the docket number.
The Public Staff – North Carolina Utilities Commission is a separate, independent agency that represents the using and consuming public in matters before the Commission, including fuel cost reviews like this one. You can send the Public Staff a statement, or ask them a question, via email.