Bill > H5328

This bill requires any company that distributes natural gas to homes in South Carolina to create and manage a "natural gas price reserve," which is a special fund designed to lessen the financial impact on residential customers when wholesale natural gas prices become unusually high, defined as "extraordinary gas costs" that exceed historical averages by a certain amount. This reserve will be funded through small extra charges on gas bills during normal times, any extra profits made when gas prices are low, and money from releasing natural gas capacity, and these funds can only be used to cover those extraordinary costs, potentially over several billing periods to avoid sudden price spikes for consumers. The bill also states that the costs of this reserve cannot be passed on to residential customers all at once unless the reserve funds are depleted and the Public Service Commission, the state's utility regulator, formally approves immediate recovery due to necessity. Furthermore, the natural gas company must submit a yearly report to the Public Service Commission detailing how the reserve funds were used, the current balance of the reserve, and how it has affected residential customer rates.

Business and Industry

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=5328&session=126&summary=B