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RCA sets technical conference on CI gas
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska decided during its July 15 public meeting to hold a technical conference in late August, to gather ideas on Cook Inlet utility gas pricing. The commission is trying to determine how to address the contentious issue of reviewing utility gas supply contracts as part of the approval process for gas and electricity utility tariffs — in May the commissioners had agreed to initiate a regulations docket on this topic by issuing a public notice of enquiry, but that notice has not been issued and the docket has not yet been opened.
“We might benefit, before opening the formal docket, from a technical conference, either on or off the record, to determine first what persons or entities would participate in the regulations docket,” Commissioner Janet Wilson said.
A conference would also provide an informal setting for people to discuss ideas about gas pricing without the commission having to first propose how it intends to address the issue, she said. On the other hand, the notice of enquiry, as conceived in May, would merely serve to gather preliminary public comments that would replicate comments that the commission has already received she said.
Legal clarity Much of the discussion in the July 15 public meeting revolved around the question of how to achieve legal clarity regarding RCA jurisdiction over the Cook Inlet utility gas supply contracts. The commission regulates the utilities but does not regulate the gas producers that supply gas to the utilities. However, under state statutes the commission must review the gas supply contracts associated with a utility tariff revision.
After a debate regarding the relative merits of seeking an informal view of the jurisdiction issue from the state Department of Law, versus seeking a formal legal opinion from the state Attorney General, the commissioners elected to seek advice from assistant attorneys general present at the meeting, during an executive session at the end of the meeting.
Lack of agreement over acceptable gas price levels for Cook Inlet utility gas has become a major stumbling block to regulatory approval of new gas supply contracts in recent years, raising questions regarding the viability of future gas production in relation to the desire to limit energy price increases for Southcentral Alaska consumers.
—Alan Bailey
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