GPSC GPSC News Volume 7 Issue 3 Commission Settles SCANA Summer 2008 *First 50,000 customers receive $25 credit *Credits issued in November *SCANA will notify customers using two bill inserts *SCANA will not object to issuance of new rules The Commission June 17 approved a consent agreement Energy Case In this issue that resolved a Com- State Revenues Drop 2 mission docket that charged natural gas marketer SCANA En- Staff Visits Georgia Power Plant Bowen 2 ergy with violating state law and Com- PSC Receives Federal 3 Grant Commission Approves 4 Consent Agreement Commission Approves 4 Fuel Rate Everett Receives Award 5 from ACCG; completes year as SEARUC President 5 ACCG honors Commissioner Wise 5 Commissioner Eaton Meets the Press mission rules. The Commission voted 3-2 to accept the settlement proposed by Commissioner Stan Wise. SCANA representatives have accepted the agreement. The Rule Nisi hearings scheduled for June 17and June 18, 2008 were cancelled with the acceptance of the agreement by both the Commission and SCANA. The terms of the settle- tomers sign up, the cred- ment include: its will be prorated. Affected SCANA cus- Any remaining funds tomers up to the first not credited to custom- 50,000 will receive a ers would be disbursed $25 credit if they as the Commission de- switched to another termines. SCANA plan between All credits will be is- March 1, 2007 and Octo- sued in November 2008. ber 31, 2008. The total SCANA will use bill amount of credits will be inserts for two billing capped at $1.25 million. If more than 50,000 cus- (Continued on page 3) Commission Opens Hearings on Atmos Energy Rate Case SEARUC 2008 Employee Recognition and Awards Day Employee News State Holidays Commission Calendar 6 6 The Commission held the first round of hearings June 30 and July 1 on the Atmos Energy re- 7 quest to increase rates $6.1 million annually. This proposed rate would in- crease customers' average 8 monthly bills by $4.71. Nine Company witnesses testified why the Company 8 is seeking this increase, (Continued on page 5) Atmos Vice President Pat Childers testifies PAGE 2 GPSC NEWS VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3 State Revenues Flat, Budget Cuts Coming G overnor Sonny Perdue has ductions for the directed all state agencies C o m m i s s i o n . to reduce their budgets by The Commis- 3.5% in the Amended FY 2009 sion must sub- budget which begins July 1, mit its pro- 2008. For the Commission, this posed FY 2009 means budget reduction of A m e n d e d $298,956 to $398,608. Budget and State revenues for the fiscal 2010 Fiscal year just ended, FY 2008, de- Year budgets to clined by 1.1%, meaning the the Office of state will have to dip into the Planning and reserve fund to balance the Budget by September 2, 2008. budget. This begins the annual appropria- For FY 2010, state agencies tions process which continues with must recommend agency budget meetings in late a 4% cut in their base budgets. This cut would be more than $400,000 in re- If you have a story for the next GPSC News, please send to Bill Edge, bille@psc.state.ga.us. Next issue deadline is October 15, 2008. November or early December, the Governor's budget recommendations to the General Assembly and then finally the General Assembly passage of the Appropriations Bills for the Amended and Regular Fiscal Year Budgets. 2008 Primary Results PSC District 1- Republican Everett 64.8% 239,422 Collum 32.2% 129,865 PSC District 4 Republican Davidson 47.7% 171,317 McDonald 52.3 % 188,192 PSC District 4 Democrat Indech 14.7% 57,886 Powell 85.3% 336,079 Staff Visits Plant Bowen N ine Commission staff members visited the Georgia Power Company H.L. Bowen Electric Generating near Cartersville, Georgia on May 22 to get a firsthand look at the Scrubbers which are being installed to reduce the emission of pollutants from the plants coal burning operations. Georgia Power is spending about $2 billion over the next five years to install scrubbers and other pollution control devices at its coal fired generating plants. The four scrubbers are all expected to be operational by 2010. Plant Bowen consists of four supercritical units and a combustion turbine with a generating capacity of 3,200 megawatts per hour. Plant Bowen has been operational since 1975. Georgia Power employs more than 9,000 workers at Plant Bowen with a net income of $842 million. (right) Outside of scrubber under construction (above) Inside of scrubber VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3 GPSC NEWS PAGE 3 PSC Accepts First in the Nation $100,000 Federal Grant for Utility Damage Prevention and Safety Enforcement; Governor Signs Proclamation for Dig Safely Month The Commission May 28 accepted the first federal grant check for $100,000 from the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to expand the Commission's efforts in preventing damage to Georgia's underground utilities. This is the first federal grant of its type to any state for damage prevention, education and enforcement efforts since the passage of the federal PIPES Act of 2006. PHMSA Administrator Carl Johnson presented the check to Commissioner Doug Everett who was joined by fel- low Commissioners Chuck Eaton and Stan Wise. They were joined by repre- sentatives of the Commission staff, PHMSA, UPC, Georgia Utility Contractors Association, Georgia Power, Atlanta Gas Light, AT&T and other representatives of organizations in- volved in the prevention of damage to Georgia's under- ground utility infrastructure. The grant recognizes the Commission's damage prevention program as a model for other states to follow in reducing damages to underground utilities by educating excavators and utilities in avoiding accidents that can cause expensive and often dangerous damage to buried utilities. Commissioner Everett said, "We appreciate receiving these funds from PHMSA to assist us in our damage prevention efforts by educating all individuals about calling before they dig. Working collectively toward a common goal to prevent damages and personal injuries from occurring is a continuous program that requires team work. Since the passage of the Georgia Utility Facility Protection Act in 2000, the state has built a damage prevention program second to none in the nation. I also want to express my appreciation for the hard work of our Facilities Protection Director Danny McGriff in obtaining these grants. Danny's tenacity and perseverance during the appli- cation and submission process culminated in our receiving these grant monies." Georgia Gover- nor Sonny Perdue also pre- sented the group a procla- mation naming May 2008 as Dig Safely Month in Georgia. SCANA Settlement (Continued from page 1) may switch. tomers when they create new cycles to communicate to their SCANA will reformat custom- pricing plans and when they re- legacy customers the opportu- ers' bills to include the name of tire existing plans. nity for the credit and that they the customers' natural gas plans are offering other variable rate on the bill. plans to which the customers *SCANA will not object to the Commission's issuance of a No- tice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) to require that marketers provide notice to existing cus- PAGE 4 GPSC NEWS VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3 PSC Approves Consent Agreements Calling for Payments of $30,000 Stemming from Cobb County Natural Gas Pipeline Leak The Commission June 5 ordered Atlanta Gas Light Company (AGLC) and Utility locator company STS, Inc. to pay a total of $30,000 to resolve issues stemming from the April 8, 2008 natural gas leak in Marietta, Georgia. The Commission approved the two consent agreements, one between the Commission and STS, Inc. and one between the Commission and Atlanta Gas Light Company (AGLC) as a final resolution of all issues stemming from the incident at Sandy Plains Road and West Oak Parkway in Marietta. Under terms of the agreement, STS, Inc. paid a fine of $10,000 to the Commission. STS, Inc. is the contractor hired by AGLC to locate the underground facilities in the incident. AGLC has paid $20,000 to the Utilities Protection Center Educational Fund in lieu of paying a fine directly to the Commission. The Commission's investigation revealed that STS and AGLC failed to properly locate the natural gas pipeline facilities at the intersection of Sandy Plains Road and West Oak Parkway in Marietta. The excavator struck a six-inch high pressure natural gas steel pipeline located in the middle of Sandy Plains Road. The ensuing leak caused the evacuation of nearby schools and businesses and shut down traffic in the affected area for Commission Approves Georgia Power Fuel Rate T he Commission May 20 approved new rates for Geor- duces the Company's request gia Power Company which will by $7.1 million. allow the utility to pay for fore- The average casted fuel as well as recover monthly bill for a residential fuel costs that have been under consumer using 1,000 kilowatt collected since approval of fuel hours will increase by $2.93. rates in the past year. The Commission delayed a deci- The Commission voted 3-2 to sion on implementing seasonally accept a staff recommendation adjusted fuel cost rates until the to approve a proposed Stipula- Seasonal Working Group issues tion with the Company that re- its recommendations. The Company's filing in Docket Number 26794 sought an increase in fuel costs of $222 million over the Company's previously budgeted amount. Georgia law allows electric utilities to recover their fuel costs, prudently incurred, on a dollar for dollar basis. The utilities are not allowed to make a profit on their fuel costs Commission Chairman Eaton Meets the Press Commission Chairman New Direction. The topic for the Chuck Eaton appeared on program was the "nuclear renthe WXIA-TV Atlanta public af- aissance" which is sparking new fairs program "Weekend in interest in the construction of Depth" on May 4. Channel 11 new nuclear power plants across veteran news reporter and an- the country. Georgia Power chor Denis O'Hayer hosts the Vice-President Oscar Harper was weekly program. Also appearing also on the program but his inon the broadcast was Bobbie terviews were not done in the Paul of Women of Atlanta for a studio. VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3 GPSC NEWS PAGE 5 Commissioner Doug Everett Receives Award from Association County Commissioners of Georgia; Completes Year as Head of Utility Commissioners' Group C ommissioner Doug Everett recently received Commissioner Everett recently completed his one a 2008 Commitment to Public year term as President of the Service Award from the Asso- Southeastern Association of ciation County Commissioners Regulatory Utility Commissioners of Georgia. ACCG Executive (SEARUC) for 2007-2008. SEA- Director Jerry Griffin and RUC is a non-profit corporation ACCG General Counsel Jim for the advancement and educa- Grubiak presented the Award tion of commission regulation to Commissioner Everett. The and the promotion of cooperation Award recognizes Commis- mentality of Georgia's county among the commissions of the sioner Everett's efforts in deal- governments. 11 southeastern U.S. member ing with issues of local con- Commissioner Everett is the first states. Commissioner Everett cern at the Commission. Republican elected to the Com- turned over the leadership of The Association County mission from southwest Georgia. SEARUC to Commissioner David Commissioners of Georgia He served as Commission Chair- Wright of the South Carolina (ACCG) is a nonprofit instru- man in 2004. Public Service Commission. "The incoming President of SEARUC and our member Commissions will face numerous challenges in the coming year," said Everett. "We must consider additional power generation sources such as nuclear power, push for more energy efficiency, drill for more oil and natural gas and deal with fast paced changes in telecommunications." County Commissioners Honor Commissioner Wise The Association County Com- chise fees levied by cities from missioners of Georgia pre- Georgia Power Company's rate sented Commissioner Stan base last year. Wise the group's 2008 annual The association presents this Wayne Shackelford Excellence in award to honor an individual Public Service Award during the now serving Georgians in a group's annual meeting in Savan- state or national office who has nah. Wise was recognized by achieved a distinguished level ACCG for championing the re- of public service and has a moval of half the municipal fran- background in county govern- ment. Lamar Paris, 2007-08 ACCG Third Vice President and Union County commissioner, presented the award to Com- missioner Wise. Wise has served on the Commission since 1995 and served as Commission Chair in 1997, 1999 and 2006. Atmos Hearings (Continued from page 1) round is scheduled for mainly due to September 3 and 4, shrinking customer 208 in Gainesville at numbers and in- the Georgia Mountains creasing costs. Center. The Commis- The second round sion will issue its deci- of hearings are set sion in this docket at a for August 12 Special Administrative through 14 in At- Session on September lanta while the final 17, 2008. PAGE 6 GPSC NEWS VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3 SEARUC 2008 G overnor Sonny Perdue's sioners have tough jobs because where he helped pass the 1995 address highlighted the "they need to make decisions at Telecommunications Deregulation light speed" in order to meet to- Act and the 1997 Georgia Natural day's challenges. Gas Deregulation Act. He noted Perdue noted he was heavily in- the southeast states have a lot in volved with utility issues when he common, in part, because natural was in the Georgia legislature gas, electricity and telecommuni- cations "don't stop at the state lines." He contended the regula- tions in the various states should reflect a "commonality in pur- pose." The meeting featured a general Southeastern Association of session on Climate Change, and Regulatory Utility Commission- breakout sessions on natural gas, ers annual meeting in Savan- nuclear energy and telecommuni- nah, Georgia June 1-4. The cations issues. Governor spoke to more than The 2009 SEARUC annual meeting 200 commissioners, staff and industry representatives gath- Commissioners Baker, Eaton, ered at the Westin Harbor Ho- Everett and Wise enjoy lunch tel. Perdue said state commis- with Governor Perdue is scheduled for June 21 to 24, 2009 in Charleston, South Carolina. 2008 Awards and Recognition Day The Commission recognized staff members for their service to the state, wel- comed new staff members and awarded Extraordinary Achievement and Incentive Awards to those employees nominated by their peers for outstanding service during the Commission's Annual Awards and Recognition Day July 15. Those employees receiving Faithful Service Awards were: Five years:John Kaduk, Michael Nantz, Angela Speir; Ten Years: Winifred Gaines, Lisa Taylor; 15 years: Robert B. Baker, Jr., Sheree Kernizan, Nancy Tyer; 20 Years: Rachel Perry, Philip Smith; 30 Years: Keith Blackshear, Bob Vaughan. Staff members receiving the Incentive Awards were: Monique Edwards, Keith Blackshear, Margie Conley, Billy Donaldson, O'Tania Jenkins, Gary Mason, Ann McCullough, Shaun Rosemond, Pat Wel- come, Earnest Whatley. The New Employees recognized were: Heather Borst-Persson, Dar- ren Dickenson, Nancy Gibson, Daphne Jones, Kelli Leaf, David Lewis, Michel Kerni- zan, Alicia McBride, Al- lison Morris, Tau- heedah Muhammed, Reginald Nelson, Wil- liam Oquendo, Betty Jo Ridgeway, Russell Steen, Tara Surratt, Christopher Swann, Robert Trokey, Celeste Wharton, Valerie Wade. Commission staff enjoys lunch following the PSC Awards and Recognition Day VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3 GPSC NEWS PAGE 7 Employee News New Employees W elcome to the following new employees who have joined the Commission: Heather Borst-Persson Tauheedah Muhammed David Lewis Alicia McBride Allison Morris Reginald Nelson Betty Jo Ridgeway Celeste Wharton Valerie Wade Welcome Back! D ennis Sewell returned to the Commission June 16 following 6 1/2 years on active duty with the U.S. Army. Dennis spent his time with the U.S. Central Command visiting places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. He returned home in July 2006 but after two weeks had to return to active duty. Dennis is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Sympathy W e extend our sympathy to Carolyn Harrison funeral was held May 20. We also wish to extend our sym- on the passing of her father, pathy to Tauheedah Muham- William Shuler, on June 21. med on the passing of her grand- The funeral was held in North mother Marie Rambardan June Charleston, South Carolina. 22. We extend our Our condolences go to Michael condolences to Russell on the passing of his Joyce John- mother, Alene Russell, on June son on the 30. The funeral was held July 5. death of her mother, Mattie Mae Brantley on May 17. The Welcome Back! William Morgan returned to work July 1 after his successful quadruple bypass surgery in April. William has been with the Commission's Transportation Unit since July 2005. Renee Shadix Celebrates Birthday Renee Shadix celebrated her birthday here June 20 with her fellow co-workers. The gathering to help Renee celebrate! PAGE 8 GPSC NEWS VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3 Commission News Georgia State Holidays For 2008 Commission Calendar New Year's Day Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Confederate Memorial Day Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Robert E. Lee Birthday Christmas President's Day January 1 January 21 April 28 May 26 July 4 September 1 October 13 November 11 November 27 November 28 December 25 December 26 July 1-Administrative Session 10- Committees 15-Administrative Session 31- Committees August 5-Administrative Session 12-14 -Atmos Hearings 14- Committees 19-Administrative Session 28- Committees September 2-Administrative Session Commission Calendar 3-4 Atmos hearings 11- Committees 16-Administrative Session 17-Special Administrative Session October 2- Committees 7-Administrative Session 16- Committees 21-Administrative Session 30- Committees NARUC Summer Meeting 2008 July 20-23, 2008 Portland, OR Annual Convention 2008 November 16-19, 2008 New Orleans, LA Winter Meeting 2009 February 15-18, 2009 Washington, D.C. SEARUC Annual Meeting 2009 June 21-24, 2009 Charleston, South Carolina GPSC ONLINE:.psc.state.ga.us The Public Information Office publishes GPSC News for the Georgia Public Service Commission. Information for GPSC News should be sent to: Bill Edge, 244 Washington St. S.W., Atlanta, Ga. 30334. Discussion of regulatory matters in this newsletter should not be construed as legal interpretations of orders or rules issued by the Commission. COMMISSIONERS Chuck Eaton, Chairman Robert B. Baker, Jr. H. Doug Everett Angela Elizabeth Speir Stan Wise EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Deborah Flannagan EXECUTIVE SECRETARY Reece McAlister