FACT SHEET
Colorado Rate Filing
• On March 4, 2008, SourceGas Distribution LLC filed a request with the Colorado Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to increase its distribution rates, which cover the non-gas costs associated with providing service to approximately 85,000 customers across the state. The company’s current non-gas base rates are no longer able to keep pace with the continually rising costs for labor, materials and other services. As a result, we have filed to recover these costs in our rates per Colorado law.
• This is first non-gas base rate increase in these Colorado service areas in many years.
:: Western Slope and North Central – (1994) 14 years
:: North East – (1992) 16 years
:: Arkansas Valley and Southwest – (1990) 18 years
• The filing proposes an increase in the fixed monthly “customer charge” to $12.75 for all residential customers and $28.75 for commercial customers. The filing also proposes to raise the volumetric charge in each service area.
The total volumetric charge varies from month-to-month depending on the amount of natural gas used
• The natural gas cost component, which currently accounts for 70 to 80 percent of a customer’s bill, will not be impacted by the rate increase.
Shifting costs away from the portion of the bill that is subject to fluctuations helps stabilize customers’ bills, lessen the impact of volatile commodity prices and reduce the impact of winter heating bills.
• SourceGas made the determination to file for the change in rates independent of the recent purchase of the Kinder Morgan utility assets in Colorado by SourceGas and there are no transaction costs included in the rate filing.
• The company proposes that the filed rates will become effective April 4, 2008. However, this request is subject to suspension by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission while the filing is being reviewed.
• The filing proposes to combine SourceGas’ current 5 service areas into 1 service area for increased efficiency in administration. The 5 current Gas Cost Adjustment (GCA) rate areas are not being combined.
• SourceGas has also requested to change from billing customers in CCF’s (volumetric measurement) to an industry wide standard of thermal measurement (heat content measurement).
:: A therm is a measurement of heating value equal to 100,000 BTU’s.
:: The change to thermal billing is associated with the consolidation of service areas across Colorado.
:: Thermal billing is used by most gas utilities across the country.
Click
here for Frequently Asked Questions about CCFs and Therms.