<p>The Georgia Public Service Commission approved on Friday a rate settlement with the Atlanta Gas Light Co.</p><p>But commission chairwoman Angela Elizabeth Speir said the settlement, reached on a 3-2 vote, fell short of protecting the company's ratepayers.</p><p>The commission originally cut rates by $21.9 million on April 29. But the settlement, which is effective for rates as of May 1, is only a $5 million reduction a year, Speir said, adding that the settlement freezes rates for five years.</p><p>"Rate stability can be a good thing but you have to balance the value of rate stability against what you are giving up," she said in a statement. "Most consumers, I believe, would rather have lower rates that fluctuate than unreasonably high rates that are stable."</p><p>Suzanne Sitherwood, president of Atlanta Gas Light, said in a statement that the company was "still disappointed with the outcome and believe our rate increase request was fully justified."</p><p>Georgia regulators rejected a company request on April 27 to increase its base rates, which would have cost residential customers $1.39 more a month and brought in an additional $24 million in annual revenue for the company.</p><p>Sitherwood said the settlement would reduce the company's base revenues by $25 million over five years and have an "even greater impact on our earnings."</p><p>The settlement sets the company's return on investment at 10.9 percent, a 4.9 percent increase over the previous return of 10.37 percent. It includes no upper limits on AGL's earnings.</p><p>It also extends a program for replacing deteriorated pipes from 10 years to 15 years. That program began in 1998.</p>
