Panel opposes Ball petition

The Utah Committee of Consumer Services said Tuesday that its former executive director, Roger Ball, has no right to intervene in an 8-year-old gas-processing dispute.

In a filing with the Utah Public Service Commission, the committee requested that the PSC deny a petition by Ball and Claire Geddes, a Salt Lake consumer watchdog, to be heard on the matter.

"They do not seek to advance the best interests of a diverse majority but rather to impose their minority views on the majority of residential consumers and small commercial enterprises statutorily represented by the committee," the filing said. "In light of the professional review and advice of its retained technical experts, the committee concluded it was time to pursue a reasonable settlement of these proceedings."

Ball, who in March was fired from his position, said Questar Gas customers should not be required to pay gas-processing costs of $4 million a year, for four years or more, under a proposed agreement that the committee, Questar Gas Co. and the Division of Public Utilities struck in October.

The agreement must still be approved by the PSC.

Under Ball's tenure, the consumer committee had fought so-called processing costs passed on to Questar Gas customers, alleging that the Salt Lake-based utility had created the problem by allowing coal-seam gas into its pipeline system.

The resulting accumulation of the coal-seam gas required the company in the late 1990s to build a processing plant to remove excess carbon dioxide, making the gas safe to burn in Wasatch Front homes.

Yet the processing costs have been a sticking point ever since the plant began operating in 1999. From 1999 to 2004, the plant's processing costs — about $29 million were passed on to customers. A Supreme Court ruling later resulted in that money being refunded, amounting to about $37 for the typical customer.

Under the new agreement, Questar will be able to capture ongoing costs associated with the processing plant from Jan. 31, 2005, until 2008, a target year in which Questar Gas hopes enough of its Utah customers will have their furnaces adjusted to burn new-composition gas supplies so the plant can be shut down.

The committee's filing stated it retained technical experts who concluded that a safety risk existed for utility customers whose appliances had not yet been properly adjusted to burn that gas.

"In light of the professional review, the committee concluded it was time to pursue a reasonable settlement of these proceedings," the filing said. "Mr. Ball never allowed himself the benefit of that outside professional expertise while he was committee director. The committee's application to solicit and retain technical expertise did not move off his desk for months, despite urgings of staff, counsel and the committee chairman that the committee avail itself of technical expertise in order to credibly present and defend its position."

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