Public Service Commission to hold local hearing on Empire gas rate case

The Missouri Public Service Commission will hold four local public hearings to receive customer comment in a natural gas rate case filed by The Empire District Gas Company. Customers who have had any service related problems may also bring them to the attention of the Commission during these local public hearings.

All of these local public hearings will have a PSC staff question and answer session from 5:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. The local public hearing will begin at 6 p.m. and will conclude when every person who wishes to testify has done so. The local public hearing schedule appears below.

November 5 -- Nevada. Cafeteria, Nevada TeleCenter, 2015 N. West Street.

November 9 -- Chillicothe. ITV Lab, Grand River Technical School, 1200 Fair Street.

November 10 -- Maryville. Everett W. Brown Education Hall, Room 214, Northwest Missouri State University, 800 University Drive.

November 12 -- Sedalia. U.S. Army Na-tional Guard Armory, Distance Technology Training Program Class-room, 2001 Clarendon Road.

These local public hearings will be held in facilities that meet accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabil-ities Act. Any person who needs additional accommodations to participate in these hearings should call the Public Service Commission's hotline at 1-800-392-4211 (voice) or Relay Missouri at 711 before the hearings.

Customers may mail a written comment to the Missouri Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 360, Jefferson City, Missouri 65102 or submit a comment electronically by accessing the PSC's Internet Electronic Filing and Information System at http://www.mailermailer.com/rd?https://www.efis.psc.mo.gov/mpsc/Comments.html; reference the case number GR-2009-0434. Comments submitted in this manner are not part of the official record of this case unless offered into evidence and admitted by the PSC as evidence, but are viewable by the public. Please do not include any information in a public comment that you do not wish to be made public.

On June 5, 2009, The Empire District Gas Company filed a natural gas rate case with the Missouri Public Service Commission seeking to increase its non-gas operating revenues by approximately $2.9 million. The proposal affects only one part of the bill, what Empire charges for non-gas costs such as operating and maintenance expenses. Empire seeks to replace the current non-gas charge that varies depending on how much natural gas is used, with a flat charge of $30 per month.

A residential customer using approximately 58 Ccf (5,800 cubic feet) of natural gas a month, would see an increase of approximately $4.63 a month in the company's Northern and Southern districts and a monthly increase of approximately $7.72 in the company's Northwest district. Under the rate request, the increase could be more or less depending on the amount of natural gas used. The rate request does not affect the price of natural gas. The actual cost of the natural gas makes up approximately 70 percent of a customer's monthly bill.

The Empire District Gas Company serves approximately 45,000 natural gas customers in Missouri.