Annual Review of Gas Costs for Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc.
(Docket No. G-9 Sub 811)
Hearing October 4, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Commission Hearing Room 2115, Dobbs Building
430 North Salisbury Street, Raleigh
Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. (Piedmont), is a local gas distribution company that buys, distributes and sells natural gas to about 745,000 customers in North Carolina.
Under State law [G.S. 62-133], natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs) 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 LDC to file annually with the Commission information that lets the Commission compare the LDC's wholesale gas and gas transportation costs with the gas revenues the LDC has collected from its customers during the 12-month period. The Commission decides whether the LDC was prudent as it incurred its gas costs. If prudently incurred gas costs are greater or less than the recovered gas revenues, the Commission can order adjustments in customer rates.
Commission Rule R1-17(k)(6)(a) requires Piedmont to file by August 1 each year information showing its actual gas costs for the year ending May 31, the amount of gas it purchased, the amount of gas it sold, and other information, along with expert witness testimony. Piedmont filed the required information on August 1, 2022.
The Public Staff of the North Carolina Utilities Commission will participate in this proceeding on behalf of the using and consuming public. The Attorney General and other organizations could intervene as well.
The Commission is holding a hearing on October 4, 2022, to receive testimony in this docket. At the beginning of the hearing, Piedmont customers will have an opportunity to provide testimony. After that, expert witnesses from Piedmont and other parties will testify.
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 assigned docket number.
The Public Staff of the 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.