Utah regulators hear settlement to extend Enbridge Gas service to Portage; filings admitted into record

Enbridge Gas Utah and the Utah Division of Public Utilities asked the Utah Public Service Commission on Feb. 4 to approve a settlement stipulation allowing the company to extend natural-gas service to the unserved community of Portage. At the hearing, the parties jointly moved to admit the application, prefiled testimony and exhibits, and the settlement stipulation into the record; the presiding officer granted both motions.

The Division of Public Utilities told the commission it supports the extension and recommends approval of the settlement stipulation. Patricia E. Schmidt of the Utah Attorney General’s Office appeared on behalf of the Division; Division witness Eric Orton testified in support. Austin Summers, testifying for Enbridge, summarized the application and said the expansion would follow the same rural-expansion approach previously approved for Eureka, Goshen, Green River and Genola.

Why it matters: the stipulation would authorize construction of facilities to serve Portage and allow the company to recover expansion costs through Enbridge’s rural expansion rate adjustment tracker in tariff section 9.02, subject to statutory spending caps and commission review of any cost overruns.

According to Summers, the typical residential customer using 70 decatherms would see an estimated increase of about $1 per year (roughly 0.15%), and that increase would not be realized until the project is complete and the company sought rate recovery. Summers said the company expects to complete the project within the budget stated in its application and noted that if routing circumstances require an alternate path, Enbridge may seek an order to proceed under Utah Code Annotated section 54-17-404 for an alternate route.

The settlement stipulation contains several procedural and substantive provisions. Paragraphs 6–10, as explained by Summers, include: authorization to construct the proposed facilities (paragraph 6); cost recovery through the rural expansion tracker (paragraph 7); a requirement that the company file final permits and a franchise agreement with the commission (paragraph 8); a commitment to seek commission approval before including any costs that exceed the Radford testimony estimates in the tracker, with increases subject to statutory spending caps (paragraph 9); and a provision that Enbridge will work with Portage and Box Elder County to confirm appliance inspections occur before meters are set (paragraph 10).

Eric Orton for the Division told the commission the Division believes the stipulation satisfies applicable statutes and rules governing rural expansion and that the extension “could be a benefit to that community and would not create a significant negative impact on the utility or its current customers.” He emphasized the company retains the burden of proof that costs it seeks to recover are just and reasonable.

The parties also discussed routing. Company witnesses explained that several routing alternatives remain under consideration and that each has distinct engineering or permitting challenges; the company said it would pursue the route identified in its application unless a different route proved more prudent and would file for an order to proceed if an alternate route were selected.

No formal commission decision was issued at the hearing. The presiding officer indicated the expected target date for an order is March 19. The hearing record now includes the application, prefiled testimony, exhibits and the settlement stipulation.

Votes at the hearing: the commission admitted the application, prefiled testimony, exhibits and the settlement stipulation into the record on the joint motion of Enbridge Gas Utah and the Division of Public Utilities; the presiding officer granted the motions. There was no final vote on approval of the settlement at the hearing.

The company said it stands ready to start construction upon commission approval.