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Yankee Gas will supplement fuel‑use data after staff asks for 12‑month detail
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Summary
PURA staff asked Yankee Gas to provide a 12‑month ended fuel expense schedule and June fuel amounts for vehicle fuel; company agreed to supplement and noted test‑year to rate‑year escalation assumptions under GDPPI.
PURA staff asked the company to provide more complete fleet fuel information after reviewing a late‑filed exhibit on vehicle expense.
Why it matters: Fuel expense is a recurring operating cost recovered in rates. Staff wanted a representative, 12‑month view of fuel costs to evaluate the company’s rate‑year assumptions.
Attorney Keenan and PURA staff questioned Yankee witnesses about how fleet fuel use fluctuates with field activity and weather. An operations witness said Yankee’s gas operations fleet drives "over a million miles a year" and that the colder‑than‑average winter in early 2025 led to more emergency odor calls and heavier vehicle use. The company said fuel consumption can vary day‑to‑day, depending on call volume, locations and seasonal conditions.
Staff asked for a supplement to LFE‑77 providing a 12‑month ended 05/31/2025 fuel expense schedule and, if available, June 2025 fuel figures. Company witnesses agreed to gather the data and file the supplement. Staff also noted that the GDPPI escalation factor used to escalate test‑year costs to the rate year was 2.42% for calendar 2024 while actual fuel costs rose about 3.1%; the company acknowledged that actual costs were higher than the escalation factor used in the rate‑year build.
Ending: The company agreed to provide the requested 12‑month fuel expense schedule as a supplement to LFE‑77; staff will evaluate the updated numbers as part of cost‑of‑service review.
