ATLANTA - Public Service Commission members rejected a defunct natural gas marketer's appeal for a $2.4 million bailout Thursday. <br>
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PSC member Stan Wise said it was a comedy for Peachtree Natural Gas to seek such a huge payment at this point, according to Friday editions of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. <br>
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The PSC voted 3-1 to adopt a proposal awarding Peachtree Natural Gas ``zero'' from the state's universal service fund, which is designed to help Georgia's poor pay their gas bills. <br>
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Roswell-based Peachtree Natural Gas declared bankruptcy Oct. 26, 1999 and sold its 171,800 customers to Shell Energy for $19.3 million. It was the state's No. 3 marketer. <br>
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PSC Commissioner Lauren ``Bubba'' McDonald Jr. blamed the company's problems on its own bad business decisions. <br>
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``It's not up to the government to bail them out,'' McDonald told the newspaper. <br>
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Other members voiced similar sentiments, such as Wise, who said it would be like ``throwing money down a rathole'' with no benefit to consumers. <br>
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Robert Baker, the PSC's only dissenting vote, favored a recommendation for a payment of $453,800 instead of $2.4 million for the defunct marketers' unpaid bills. <br>
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When Peachtree Natural Gas initially sought in 2001, the law allowed reimbursements to cover marketers' bad debt as part of Georgia's natural gas deregulation law. <br>
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In April, Gov. Roy Barnes signed legislation that ensured the universal service fund would be dedicated primarily to supporting a ``last resort'' gas supplier for the poor, the newspaper reported. <br>
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Christine L. Sewell, an attorney for Peachtree Natural Gas, said company officials were disappointed by the decision and will consider options, including a possible appeal in Fulton County Superior Court. The company's attorneys have said any payment from the state's universal service fund would go to creditors under supervision of the U.S. bankruptcy court.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/6/193830
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