Subpoenas withdrawn in Questar-PSC probe

Questar Gas Co. has withdrawn subpoenas presented to a group of customers and stockholders who the company said might have been misled by a pair of consumer advocates.

The Utah Public Service Commission announced the withdrawal Friday, "mooting the dispute." It also canceled a Tuesday hearing on the subpoena issue.

Five customers had received subpoenas commanding them to answer questions about their dealings with Roger Ball and Claire Geddes, longtime critics of the utility. Ball is the former executive director of the state Committee of Consumer Services, and Geddes is a citizen activist.

While the utility, part of Salt Lake-based Questar Corp., said it wanted to clear up possible misleading information from the two, some people who were subpoenaed said they considered the action scare tactics and intimidation on the company's part.

The customer group, which includes three shareholders, were among hundreds of people who signed a petition Ball and Geddes circulated in opposition to an agreement reached by Questar and two other state agencies to pass on nearly $18 million in natural-gas processing costs to consumers.

Ball and Geddes were attempting to intervene in the matter as it was being considered by the commission, but the commission denied their intervention.

A Questar spokesman this week said the utility was concerned that petition-signers had been misled by Ball and Geddes regarding a large rate increase last year and whether it was connected to the processing-costs issue.

Questar Gas serves 824,000 customers in Utah and parts of Wyoming and southeastern Idaho.