Unpaid gas bills to be paid by other customers
The Tennessee Regulatory Authority chose Monday to let the three large, privately owned gas companies in the state pass unpaid gas bills on to other customers on an ongoing basis. Before, the companies had to wait until they filed a rate change request, which happens every few years.
The 3-0 vote by the regulatory agency clears the way for Nashville Gas Co., Chattanooga Gas Co. and Atmos Energy Corp. to add the charges to gas bills.
The TRA did not have an estimate on what the change would cost customers.
The decision came despite objections from consumer advocates. The consumer advocate office of the state attorney general had argued against the change, but said it couldn’t comment on the case until the new rule is finalized.
Gas companies said the change lets them more accurately collect gas costs from customers and shield themselves from the volatility of gas costs.
“The authority did the right thing for the company and the consumers,” said Bill Morris, planning director for Piedmont Natural Gas, parent company of Nashville Gas.
The TRA said companies previously were able to predict how much their unpaid gas bills would amount to, allowing them to accurately set the charge for paying customers far in advance.
But since deregulation and the increase in the price of gas, more customers have defaulted on their bills, said Eddie Roberson, chief of consumer services and external affairs for the TRA. Gas companies need a more timely way of collecting that money from paying customers, he said.
Roberson said the gas companies will only be able to collect unpaid portion of bills relating to gas costs, not the portion of the bills that goes toward infrastructure. The gas portion is usually about 60 percent of a bill, he said.
The rule change will go into place after a 30-day comment period. After a year, the TRA will review the issue and decide whether to keep the changes.
The TRA said it also will monitor the companies to make sure they don’t collect too much money.
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