Georgia Prepares for Retail Gas Competition

Fortnightly Magazine - July 15 1997
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Under a new law deregulating the state's natural gas market, the Georgia Public Service Commission must enact regulations by Dec. 31, 1997, governing the certification of gas marketers and associated service quality standards and customer complaint procedures.

The new law, the Georgia Natural Gas Competition and Deregulation Act, also requires the commission to adopt a method for the "random assignment of each retail customer to a certificated marketer within a delivery group." A delivery group is a set of individual gas distribution delivery points on one or more interstate pipelines that may be aggregated and used for the delivery of gas to a particular set of retail customers.

The commission said that its goal was to implement rules and regulations to move natural gas markets in the state "from a regulated monopoly to competitive markets in a way that benefits customers, improves economic efficiency, promotes fairness, and maintains safety and reliability."

It also noted that while the new state law expands market choices for all classes of ratepayers, the legislation also requires commission oversight to protect the public interest and safety and to safeguard ratepayers from possible market abuse. Re Senate Bill 215, Docket No. 7546-U, May 8, 1997 (Ga.P.S.C.); Re Senate Bill 215, Docket No. 7546-U, May 8, 1997 (Ga.P.S.C.).


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