PSC votes to double consumers' gas pipeline assessment

ATLANTA - The Public Service Commission voted Tuesday to more than double the monthly assessment that natural gas consumers pay for Atlanta Gas Light&#39;s pipeline replacement program. <br> <br> The charge will increase from 35 cents to 73 cents, effective this month, for the one and a half million homes and businesses on the utility&#39;s natural gas distribution system, the PSC said. <br> <br> The monthly surcharges are projected to rise to a $1.31 per month next year. The amount has increased from eleven cents in 1998, the year the PSC approved an agreement with Atlanta Gas Light to replace more than two-thousand miles of deteriorating steel and cast iron pipeline with plastic pipes over ten years. <br> <br> Voting to approve the increase were Commissioners David Burgess, Earleen Sizemore and Stan Wise. Voting in opposition were Robert Baker and Bubba McDonald.