The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has denied a request by a large noncore gas user for a waiver from eligibility limits imposed under a real-time pricing (RTP) experiment for gas transportation service approved by the CPUC in 1994 for San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E).
In an earlier ruling, the CPUC had restricted eligibility for the RTP experiment to a maximum of 10 customers per year, and had excluded electric generation and cogeneration customers from eligibility. But one gas customer of SDG&E, NutraSweet Kelco Co., which took service both as a cogenerator and as a noncogeneration customer, had sought a waiver to obtain gas for cogeneration under the experimental tariff.
In denying the request, the CPUC noted that rate reductions under the pricing experiment are absorbed 100 percent by all other customers. It added: "[W]e would expect the loss of a substantial customer such as Kelco would cause concern at SDG&E, but we see no evidence of it." The CPUC noted that it had recently authorized the utility to offer electric service discounts if it would absorb the revenue loss, and suggested that "a similar arrangement may meet Kelco's needs." Re San Diego Gas & E. Co., Application 93-09-048, Decision 96-08-018, Aug. 2, 1996 (Cal.P.U.C.).
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