Opinion ID: 1194147
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Publication and distribution of Flame Tips as an Expense.

Text: Included in the monthly billing envelope addressed to its customers during the test year was a publication prepared by Oklahoma Natural entitled Flame Tips, at an annual cost of $85,922, or 16 cents per customer. The Attorney General objects to the inclusion of this cost as an allowed expense to Oklahoma Natural on the assertion that it is not a cost of providing gas service to customers. However, P.A. Wimpey, Senior Vice President-Financial of Oklahoma Natural, testified that the publication was the primary vehicle through which Oklahoma Natural communicated with its customers on matters required by the Commission and the Department of Transportation Regulations, and by utilizing the billing envelope for mailing was distributed at a smaller cost per year than would have been the cost of a single mailing of a required notice without the use of the billing envelope. He further testified that the publication contained items relating to energy conservation as well as cooking recipes. His evidence was undisputed, and we hold that there was substantial evidence in support of the Commission's allowance the cost of the Flame Tips publication as an expense item of Oklahoma Natural.