Enstar still wants customer switch notice

Enstar Natural Gas Co. has refiled for tariff revisions that could hamper the ability of direct gas marketers to compete for commercial customers.

Enstar originally filed for the tariff revisions in late November, but the Regulatory Commission of Alaska rejected the filing for technical reasons.

The agency invited Enstar to reorganize and resubmit its filing, and the company did so on Dec. 19.

Enstar is the main gas utility serving the greater Anchorage area.

The company is asking the RCA to approve a requirement for commercial customers to provide at least a year’s notice when switching from Enstar to a direct gas marketer, or vice versa.

Enstar says the “unpredictable coming and going” of customers can harm all Enstar customers in the form of higher gas prices.

The one-year notice, however, could draw formal opposition from alternative suppliers using Enstar’s distribution system.

One local gas producer, Cook Inlet Energy LLC, has said it aims to market gas directly to commercial customers for space heating.

—Wesley Loy