New group rallies ratepayers

He was Utah's point man in battling utilities for eight years until Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. fired him.

Now Roger Ball is forming his own consumer watchdog group, the Utah Ratepayers Association, a nonprofit corporation that he says will stand up for consumers on utility issues.

Simply put, Ball believes companies like Questar Gas Co. and Rocky Mountain Power usually get their way when it comes to rate hikes. And legislators and state regulators, he said, are too often unwilling to champion consumer issues.

"We want to encourage ratepayers who are as disgusted as we are to come and join us," Ball said. "We want to provide some balance to the constant drumbeat of lobbying of highly paid utility lobbyists."

The new group has 15 members, making up a council that has been meeting monthly since October. A Web site, www.utahratepayers.org, outlines the group's goals and mission.

Steven Ray of Sandy said he got involved because he believes the six-member Committee of Consumer Services — charged by statute to look after the interests of residential and small-business customers — is not doing enough.

"If the CCS is not going to do their job, then we are," Ray said. "We want to restore the voice of the small consumer in ratepayer issues."

Specifically, Ray points to a committee decision in 2006 that sided with Questar on gas-processing costs. The issue involves tens of millions of dollars for processing new compositions of natural gas reaching Wasatch Front homes.

In 2003, the committee successfully persuaded the Utah Supreme Court to reverse a state Public Service Commission order that resulted in a $29 million refund in processing costs, or about $37 to each Questar customer.

However, last year the PSC approved a new deal — this time with the blessing of the consumer committee — that allowed processing costs to begin again through 2008, amounting to roughly $18 million.

"It went all the way to the Supreme Court and they won," Ray said. "Then the committee suddenly reverses itself and says, 'We were wrong all along. We want Questar to go ahead and charge for this.' It kind of makes you wonder. Is there really any voice for the little guy?"

Dee Jay Hammon, chairman of the committee, said he finds it hard to believe that anyone would think the committee is not looking out for the interests of ratepayers.