Pennsylvania Code › Title 52 - PUBLIC UTILITIES › Part I - Public Utility Commission › Subpart C - Fixed Service Utilities › Chapter 53 - TARIFFS FOR NONCOMMON CARRIERS › RECOVERY OF FUEL COSTS BY GAS UTILITIES › Section 53.64 - Filing requirements for natural gas distributors with gross intrastate annual operating revenues in excess of $40 million

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) A Section 1307(f) gas utility may only
					 voluntarily file a tariff reflecting an increase or decrease in natural gas
					 costs once a year in accordance with the schedule established by the
					 Commission, as published in the
Pennsylvania Bulletin
prior to
					 the first day of September of each preceding year. If no new tariff is filed at
					 that time, gas utilities under
					 66 Pa.C.S. §
												1307(f) (relating to sliding
					 scale of rates; adjustments) shall nevertheless file for the reconciliation of
					 amounts collected and expended during prior periods as set forth in subsection
					 (i). The tariff may reflect either an annual levelized rate, or a seasonal
					 levelized rate pursuant to which a levelized 6-month "summer" rate period and a
					 levelized 6-month "winter" rate period would apply. Upon good cause shown, the
					 tariff may reflect other summer/winter rate periods as may be justified by
					 operational considerations.
(b) If
					 there is a known and measurable change in gas costs during the effective period
					 of an annual levelized rate previously approved by the Commission and the
					 change, if reflected in a natural gas utility's tariffs, would result in an
					 increase or decrease in its gas cost rate tariffs of 2% or more, the natural
					 gas utility shall file a proposed tariff incorporating the recalculated rate in
					 accordance with the quarterly filing provisions of subsection (i)(5).
(c) Thirty days prior to the filing of a
					 tariff reflecting an increase or decrease in natural gas costs, each Section
					 1307(f) gas utility seeking recovery of purchased gas costs under that section
					 shall provide notice to the public, under §
											53.68 (relating to notice
					 requirements), and shall file the following supporting information with the
					 Commission, with a copy to the Consumer Advocate, Small Business Advocate and
					 to intervenors upon request:
(1) A complete
					 list in schedule format of each spot and each long term source of gas supply,
					 production, transportation and storage, used in the past 12 months, which
					 12-month period shall end 2 months prior to the date of the tariff filing,
					 separately setting forth on a monthly basis the quantity and price of gas
					 delivered, produced, transported or stored, maximum daily quantity levels,
					 maximum annual quantity levels, a detailed description of warrantee or penalty
					 provisions, including liquidated damages, take or pay provisions or minimum
					 bill or take provisions of the purchases, balancing provisions and copies of
					 Federal tariffs and contract provisions relating to the purchases-including
					 demand and commodity components. With regard to each contemplated future source
					 of supply, production, transportation or storage, during each of the next 20
					 months for each source, provide the name of the source, the maximum daily
					 quantity, the maximum annual quantity, the minimum take levels, a detailed
					 description of warrantee or penalty provisions, including liquidated damages,
					 take or pay provisions or minimum bill or take provisions of the purchases,
					 balancing provisions and contractual or tariffed terms of the purchases, copies
					 of applicable Federal tariffs, the expiration date of each contract, the date
					 when each contract was most recently negotiated and the details of the
					 negotiation-such as meeting held, offers made, and changes in contractual
					 obligation-and whether current proceedings, negotiations or renegotiations are
					 pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the like, to
					 modify the price, quantity or another condition of purchase, and if so, the
					 details of the proceedings, negotiations or renegotiations. Gas supply sources
					 which individually represent less than 3% of the total system supply may be
					 shown collectively, such as other local gas purchases.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), requests
					 for confidential treatment of a submission required to be filed under §
												§
												53.61-53.63, this section and §
												§
												53.65-53.68 shall be made at the time
					 the supporting information is submitted to the Commission. The information need
					 not be served on another person until the request for nondisclosure is decided
					 by the administrative law judge assigned to the proceeding and will be served
					 under separate cover. The Commission will restrict access to this information
					 pending its determination. The administrative law judge will make the
					 determination within 15 days of the date the administrative law judge is
					 assigned to the proceeding.
(3) A
					 complete listing of sources of gas supply transportation or storage and their
					 costs, including shut-in and curtailed sources of supply, both inside and
					 outside this Commonwealth considered by or offered to the utility but not
					 chosen for use during the past 12 months, which 12-month period shall end 2
					 months prior to the date of the tariff filing, and the reasons why the gas
					 supply, transportation or storage was not selected for use as a part of the
					 utility's supply mix. A similar listing of gas sources, transportation or
					 storage and associated projected costs offered or considered but not chosen to
					 meet supply for the next 20 months, along with reasons for
					 nonselection.
(4) An annotated
					 listing of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or other relevant
					 non-Commission proceedings, including legal action necessary to relieve the
					 utility from existing contract terms which are or may be adverse to the
					 interest of its ratepayers, which affect the cost of the utility's gas supply,
					 transportation or storage or which might have an impact on the utility's
					 efforts to provide its customers with reasonable gas service at the lowest
					 price possible. This list shall include docket numbers and shall summarize what
					 has transpired in the cases, and the degree of participation, if any, which the
					 utility has had in the cases. The initial list filed under this paragraph shall
					 include cases for the past 3 years. Subsequent lists need only update prior
					 lists and add new cases.
(5) A
					 listing and updating, if necessary, of projections of gas supply and demand
					 provided to the Commission for any purpose-see §
												59.67 (relating to formats). In
					 addition, provide an accounting of the difference between reported gas supply
					 available and gas supply deliverable-including storage-from the utility to its
					 customers under various circumstances and time periods.
(6) Each Section 1307(f) utility shall file
					 with the Commission a statement of its current fuel procurement practices,
					 detailed information concerning the staffing and expertise of its fuel
					 procurement personnel, a discussion of its methodology for obtaining a least
					 cost and reliable source of gas supply, including a discussion of any
					 methodologies, assumptions, models or rules of thumb employed in selecting its
					 gas supply, transportation and storage mix, its loss prevention strategy in the
					 event of fraud, nonperformance or interruption of performance, its
					 participation in capacity release and reallocation programs, the impact, if
					 any, upon least cost fuel procurement by constraints imposed by local
					 transportation end users, interruptible service, balancing, storage and
					 dispatching options, and its strategy for improving its fuel procurement
					 practices in the future and timetable for implementing these changes.
(7) A list of off system sales, including
					 transportation, storage or capacity releases by the utility at less than the
					 weighted average price of gas, or at less than the original contract cost of
					 transportation, storage or capacity supplied to the utility for its own
					 customers.
(8) A list of agreements
					 to transport gas by the utility through its system, for other utilities,
					 pipelines or jurisdictional customers including the quantity and price of the
					 transportation.
(9) A schedule
					 depicting historic monthly end-user transportation throughput by customer. Each
					 customer or account shall be identified solely by a unique alphanumeric Code,
					 the key to which may be provided subject to §
												5.423 (relating to orders to limit
					 availability of proprietary information).
(10) A schematic system map, locating and
					 identifying by name, the pressure and capacity of all interstate or intrastate
					 transmission pipeline connections, compressor stations, utility transmission or
					 distribution mains 6 inches or larger in size, storage facilities, including
					 maximum daily injection and withdrawal rates, production fields, and each
					 individual supply or transportation customer which represents 5% or more of
					 total system throughput in a month. Each customer or account shall be
					 identified solely by a unique alphanumeric Code, the key to which may be
					 provided subject to § 5.423.
(11) If any rate structure or rate allocation
					 changes are to be proposed, a detailed explanation of each proposal, reasons
					 therefore, number of customers affected, net effect on each customer class, and
					 how the change relates to or is justified by changes in gas costs proposed in
					 the Section 1307(f) tariff filing. Explain how gas supply, transportation and
					 storage capacity costs are allocated to customers which are primarily
					 nonheating, interruptible or transportation customers.
(12) A schedule depicting the most recent
					 5-year consecutive 3-day peak data by customer class (or other historic peak
					 day data used for system planning), daily volumetric throughput by customer
					 class (including end-user transportation throughput), gas interruptions and
					 high, low and average temperature during each day.
(13) Identification and support for any peak
					 day methodology used to project future gas demands and studies supporting the
					 validity of the methodology.
(14)
					 Analysis and data demonstrating, on an historic and projected future basis, the
					 minimum gas entitlements needed to provide reliable and uninterrupted service
					 to priority one customers during peak periods.