PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OKs ONE COMPANY'SPLAN TO RECOUP NEBRASKA GAS COSTS FROM COLD SNAP

The Nebraska Public Service Commission has approved one natural gas company's plan to recoup costs related to the deep freeze that settled over the state in February. In an order issued May 11, the commission gave its blessing to a proposal by Northwestern Energy to recoup over a two-year period more than $25 million in gas supply costs incurred amid record-setting cold temperatures across a large swath of the central U.S.

By law, Black Hills and Northwestern Energy, the only two natural gas companies regulated by the PSC, are allowed to recoup the actual costs of the natural gas they provide to customers. However, the commission asked them to hold off adding them to bills right away and to come up with a plan to seek reimbursement over time to lessen the effects on ratepayers.

While the two companies provide natural gas to a large chunk of the state, many people get their natural gas service from municipal providers, ranging in size from Omaha Metropolitan Utilities District, which serves more than 200,000 customers, to small-town providers that have a few hundred customers.

Many of those providers faced the same astronomical cost increases to buy natural gas during the cold snap but did not have the financial wherewithal to defer repayment.

On Thursday, the Nebraska Legislature voted 40-7 to pass LB131, a bill that sets aside $4 million in emergency grants for small towns and villages that were hard-hit during the February cold snap. 

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