CenterPoint asks to stop tiered gas price program
CenterPoint Energy is asking Minnesota regulators to halt a natural gas pricing program after complaints from customers and Attorney General Lori Swanson.
The Texas-based company and several environmental groups filed paperwork with the state Public Utilities Commission on Friday requesting the program's suspension by mid-October.
CenterPoint spokeswoman Becca Virden says the company plans to review and adjust the pricing program based on feedback from customers and others.
The program charged progressively higher gas rates for customers who used more energy, prompting complaints from those who couldn't cut their energy use enough because of medical conditions or other reasons.
Swanson sought the program's suspension in June. She says the latest development will spare ratepayers "indiscriminate and unintended consequences."
CenterPoint is Minnesota's largest natural gas supplier, with 718,000 residential customers.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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