Gias company panel hears pricing rebuttal
By MARTHA BLISS
Of the Emerald
Less than a dozen Eugene re
sidents attended a forum Wed
nesday night on the Northwest
Natural Gas Company’s (NWNG)
11 per cent rate increase request,
made February 28
The informal meeting in the city
council chambers was arranged
by the Public Utility Commission
(PUC) and included a six-member
panel. Two of the panel members
represented NWNG and four were
Eugene residents question 11% hike
PUC staff members.
NWNG Pres. Ronald Miller told
the audience the company’s
pnmary reason behind the rate
request is inflation. He stressed
that its rate of return on invest
ment has been below 10 per cent
for the past three years — more
than three per cent below what the
PUC allows.
Pat Vail errand, of 1341 W. 11th
Ave., Eugene, asked the panel if
the rate increase was a straight
increase for all NWNG customers
or whether it incorporated a dis
count for customers with small,
conservative gas demands.
Roger Conkling, NWNG senior
vice president, explained it would
have to be a straight increase and
not attempt to favor low-income
customers.
“Welfare considerations belong
outside the utilities’ domain,” he
said. “We do not have the statut
ory power to favor them. That be
longs in the Legislature.”
When Vallerand asked if the
gas company had tried other ways
to meet rising costs, Miller said it
Hearings debate land-use plan revision
Citizen questioning comes first,
Committee answers will follow
By E G. WHITE-SWIFT
Of the Emerald
Now that they finally have the
questions, a metropolitan plan
ning committee can begin debat
ing Eugene's future
¥
The answers will be provided
later, after public hearings are
held on a revised 1990 Plan for
Eugene and Springfield that will
be hammered out by the planning
group, the Metropolitan Area
lanning Advisory Committee
(MAP AC)
The 1990 General Plan is a
comprehensive land-use plan for
Eugene, Spnngfield and adjacent
unincorporated areas that was
first adopted by local govern
r
ments in 1972. It included a five
year update clause to ensure that
the plan would meet the needs of
a growing community with chang
ing conditions and community at
titudes.
MAPAC held public hearings
April 5 and 7 to learn public criti
cisms and questions concerning
the ongmal plan. Nearly 100 area
residents attended the meetings,
including 32 individuals that pre
sented written or oral testimony to
MAPAC members.
“The turnout was much higher
than the turnout for the 1990 Plan
second annual review," says Sue
Boyd, MAPAC chairer. "New is
sues and questions to be consi
dered in the 1990 Plan update sur
faced at the heanngs."
MAPAC met Wednesday night
to review the citizen input and out
line recommendations for the
Metro Plan Policy Committee
(MPPC). The MPPC reviews the
MAPAC recommendations, pas
sing them on to the local govern
ments for cons<deration.
MAPAC recognized several
new issues that may be consi
dered in the 1990 Plan update.
They include:
— Constraints and advantages
to continued population growth of
the metropolitan area.
— Effects of property tax as
sessment procedures on the
goals and objectives of the Metro
Plan.
— Reassessment of the en
vironmental design element of the
1990 Plan as it ties in with the
concept of livability within the met
ropolitan area.
— Re-evaluation of the sand
and gravel needs for the area in
light of new techonology of the in
dustry.
These four issues will be sent to
the MPPC by MAPAC once the
L-COG staff draws up a letter that
will include recommended issues
to be addressed in the revised
1990 Plan and an addendum of
questions that citizens expressed
concern over at the public hear
ings but did not warrant treatment
as new issues. Some of the ad
dendum questions fell in the
category of old issues and other
questions have been recom
mended by MAPAC before, with
out receiving action from local
governments.
The issues facing planners
have been identified by the public.
Now it is time for the hard task of
find answers that will satisfy all the
questioners.
had cut its employment, goods
and services before resorting to
the rate increase request. He
further explained that since 1969,
the average number of NWNG
customers has increased from
153,000 to its present level of
206,000. In 1969, the company
employed 7.5 persons for each
thousand customers; this ratio
was reduced to 4.8 persons per
thousand customers by 1976.
Al Jasso, a natural gas
economist on the PUC staff, told
the audience the two main issues
involved in the rate increase re
quest are the company’s rate of
return and the rate design it would
establish for customers. Other
factors, he said, are the cost of
gas and the company’s revenues.
Approximately 13,000 residen
tial NWNG customers live in the
Lane County area. The average
monthly bill of the typical residen
tial customer using gas for
spaceheating, according to
NWNG, would increase by $1.30.
The company would raise its an
nual Oregon revenues by $18.88
million by the increase.
Incorporating Wednesday’s
forum and a similar meeting in
Portland Tuesday, a PUC ad
ministrator now will formulate tes
timony and present it at a formal
hearing on the request in mid-July
in Salem. Public Utilities Commis
sioner Charles Davis has until De
cember 28 to determine whether
the request is justified.
NWNG reduced its rates to re
sidential customers by about 12
per cent April 11 on order from
Davis because of a rate decrease
by its Canadian supplier, North
west Pipeline Corp.
1
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