1/23/08 N.Y. St. Reg. PSC-04-08-00011-P
PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed action:
The Public Service Commission is considering whether to approve in whole or in part a “motion to recuse” and “petition for rehearing” concerning the commission's Aug. 23, 2007 abbreviated order authorizing acquisition. The commission is also considering on its own motion the question of whether it should clarify that the annual cap on gas temperature controlled service will be based on the comparable commercial gas heating firm rate.
Statutory authority:
Public Service Law, sections 22, 66(12), 70, 99, 100 and 110
Subject:
Revocation of stock purchase and other regulatory authorizations.
Purpose:
To upset the commission's prior order authorizing National Grid plc to acquire KeySpan Corporation and its subsidiaries and to change prior commission actions in other cases.
Substance of proposed rule:
The September 11, 2007 “Motion to Recuse/Rescind And/or Petition for Rehearing” by a member of the public raises concerns about whether Commission rules bar Commissioner contacts with active parties during rulemaking proceedings and, if so, whether the Commission's Aug. 23, 2007 Abbreviated Order authorizing the acquisition of KeySpan Corporation by National Grid should be rescinded. Issues are also raised about a Management Services Agreement between National Grid and the Long Island Power Authority that is said to be “prohibited”, individual customer billing and service complaints raised in past or current litigation in Suffolk County and Nassau County court proceedings, alleged misconduct in a separate Commission proceeding (Case 05-E-0098) concerning the Caithness generation facility, and alleged violations of state and federal “False Claims Acts”. In electronic messages dated Oct. 22, 2007, Nov. 6, 2007, and Nov. 27, 2007, additional information was filed by the same member of the public “in support” of various aspects of the petition for rehearing summarized above. Given that the Commission will be considering the referenced motion and petition, it will also take the opportunity to review on its own motion whether it should clarify that the annual cap for gas temperature controlled customers should be based on the comparable rate for firm commercial heating customers.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained by filing a Document Request Form (F-96) located on our website http://www.dps.state.ny.us/f96dir.htm. For questions, contact:
Central Operations, Public Service Commission, Bldg. 3, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223-1350, (518) 474-2500
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Jaclyn A. Brilling, Secretary, Public Service Commission, Bldg. 3, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223-1350, (518) 474-6530
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Regulatory Impact Statement, Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Rural Area Flexibility Analysis and Job Impact Statement
Statements and analyses are not submitted with this notice because the proposed rule is within the definition contained in section 102(2)(a)(ii) of the State Administrative Procedure Act.
