Georgia Senate Committee Passes AGL Pipeline Legislation
A Georgia Senate committee passed a bill on Wednesday that would allow Atlanta Gas Light to levy a surcharge on Georgia customers for an expansion of its natural gas distribution system. The bill would create a streamlined regulatory review process to facilitate the construction of an interconnect to receive gas directly from the Elba Island LNG terminal. The Associated Press reports that Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg), the chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee, called for a vote after a hearing, when previously he had stated that the measure would not be voted on that day. “Consumers who will have to pay for this pipeline were misled as to when this bill would be voted on and were given no time to digest the substitute or lobby for improvements,” Jim Kulstad, a lobbyist for Common Cause Georgia, said in an article published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The bill is only slightly different from one that passed the Georgia House in February. The Associated Press article is carried today via Energy Central Professional. [Subscription required]