Title
Consider/Discuss/Act on an Ordinance Approving a Negotiated Resolution Between the Atmos Cities Steering Committee and Atmos Energy Corporation, Mid-Tex Division Regarding the Company's 2013 Annual Rate Review Mechanism Filing
Summary
MEETING DATE: October 15, 2013
DEPARTMENT: Financial Services
CONTACT: Rodney Rhoades, Chief Financial Officer
RECOMMENDED CITY COUNCIL ACTION:
* Approve the ordinance.
ITEM SUMMARY:
* The City, along with approximately 164 other cities served by Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division ("Atmos Mid-Tex" or "Company"), is a member of the Atmos Cities Steering Committee ("ACSC"). On or about July 15, 2013, Atmos Mid-Tex filed with the City an application to increase natural gas rates pursuant to the Rate Review Mechanism ("RRM") tariff renewed by the City in 2013 as a continuation and refinement of the previous RRM rate review process. This is the first annual RRM filing under the renewed RRM tariff.
* The Atmos Mid-Tex RRM filing sought a $22.7 million rate increase system-wide based on an alleged test-year cost of service revenue deficiency of $25.7 million. The City worked with ACSC to analyze the schedules and evidence offered by Atmos Mid-Tex to support its request to increase rates. The Ordinance and attached rate tariffs are the result of negotiations between ACSC and the Company to resolve issues raised by ACSC during the review and evaluation of Atmos Mid-Tex's RRM filing.
* The Ordinance resolves the Company's RRM filing by authorizing additional revenues to the Company of $16.6 million system-wide. For purposes of comparison, this negotiated result is about $11 million less than what ACSC's consultants calculated that Atmos would have been entitled to if Atmos had filed a case under the Gas Reliability Infrastructure Program ("GRIP") rather than an RRM case. The settlement is expected to increase the average residential customer's bill by approximately $0.74 per month and will be a consu...
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