Bay State Gas Company requested an increase in base rates for the second year in a row because it argued that its current rate structure did not allow for a reasonable opportunity to earn its permitted rate of return.  As a solution to its earning deficiency the Company proposed to create a regulatory asset for the recovery of depreciation, interest, and tax costs incurred on leak-prone pipe replacement projects between the in-service date and when the Company begins earning a recovery on the addition.  The Company also proposed six months of post-test year plant additions in order to account for the additional regulatory lag resulting from an extension of the DPU’s statutory rate suspension period from six to ten months.