Georgia Public Service Commission Allows Atlanta Gas Light to Make New STRIDES for Better Service

/PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta Gas Light received approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) today to begin a multi-year system upgrade to improve the utility's ability to provide service on peak demand days.

This program, called the Georgia Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement Program (STRIDE), will merge into the company's existing Pipeline Replacement Program (PRP) and incorporate a new Integrated System Reinforcement Program (i-SRP). STRIDE's initial three-year construction phase, which was approved today, is estimated at $175.7 million.

"STRIDE's approach to regulatory oversight and rate recovery began with the Public Service Commission's creation of the PRP mechanism in 1998," said Hank Linginfelter, executive vice president, Utility Operations, AGL Resources. "The Georgia Public Service commission continues to show leadership in the area of limiting rate impacts on our customers while encouraging necessary investment."

Atlanta's metropolitan area has experienced rapid growth in the past two decades, and much of that growth has shifted to regions farther removed from Atlanta Gas Light's existing interstate supply points and high-pressure transmission pipeline system. STRIDE system improvements will target the counties of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Gwinnett, Fulton, Forsyth, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale.

"Atlanta Gas Light has an obligation to maintain its system to provide adequate operating pressures to serve our customers on the coldest days of the year," said Suzanne Sitherwood, president, Atlanta Gas Light. "We proposed STRIDE as a new regulatory approach to perform the necessary improvements and keep our monthly customer charges as low as possible."

The PSC also authorized Atlanta Gas Light to implement recovery for the STRIDE program. The initial charge, expected to begin in late October, will increase rates for all firm customers by an additional $0.39 per month. Beginning October 2010, the rates will be $0.78 per month, and beginning in October 2011, the rates will be $1.18 per month.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Georgia Natural Gas First Georgia Marketer to Obtain Recycled Natural Gas from Landfill

/PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Natural Gas (GNG), the state's leading natural gas provider, is the first and only natural gas marketer in Georgia to obtain recycled natural gas from a landfill, helping to conserve Georgia's precious natural resources. Specially designed equipment at the landfill collects the methane gas and makes it ready for consumer use.

GNG began purchasing the recycled gas from Georecover-Live Oak LLC, a Jacoby Development company, in early 2009. Georecover oversees processing of the gas at the Live Oak Landfill in DeKalb County, Georgia. The landfill is capable of producing enough natural gas to fuel approximately 15,000 Georgia homes and has a potential life cycle of about 20 years. GNG has exclusive rights to purchase all of the recycled gas produced at the landfill through 2011.

This week GNG launches its fall marketing campaign that focuses on GNG's leadership in obtaining recycled natural gas. Television, radio, billboards, print, direct mail and online marketing efforts will feature a distinctive flickering blue flower in the shape of a gas burner, symbolizing a clean-burning energy source.

"Georgia Natural Gas is very proud to be the first natural gas marketer in Georgia to obtain recycled natural gas," said Mike Braswell, president and CEO of GNG. "Turning landfill waste material into a clean-burning resource helps preserve our natural resources, and it gives our customers a way to help the environment simply by being a GNG customer. Natural gas is already one of the cleanest, most plentiful energy sources, and with the availability of recycled natural gas, natural gas is more compatible than ever with the country's energy goals."

What is recycled natural gas?

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), landfills are the largest single human source of methane gas emissions in the United States, accounting for 25 percent of all methane sources. Methane is a greenhouse gas with a high global warming potential. Landfill methane gas is generated during the natural process of bacterial decomposition of organic material contained in municipal landfills. New technologies have made it possible to capture and combust the methane gas, breaking it apart to form water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other compounds that are less volatile than methane.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia