Description
Maryland's Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement (STRIDE) program provides a cost recovery mechanism to incentivize local gas distribution companies to accelerate improvements in gas infrastructure. Elkton Gas Company (Elkton) filed a request to Maryland's Public Service Commission (PSC) to establish its first STRIDE Plan and associated surcharge. The Company proposed to accelerate its existing plans to replace 4.68 miles of vintage Aldyl-A plastic pipe from four to three years. Within its role as a consumer advocate, Maryland's Office of People's Counsel (OPC) intervened in the proceeding on behalf of Elkton's residential consumers and wanted to hire a firm to support its staff with its review of Elkton's three-year STRIDE plan and surcharge recovery mechanism.
Service Provided
DHInfrastructure staff submitted expert testimony and supported a settlement agreement. Our analysis focused on whether Elkton's STRIDE plan met the STRIDE program's eligibility requirements We found that while the plan was smaller in scale to the STRIDE programs carried out by other Maryland gas companies, the slightly faster pace of replacement technically met the minimum requirements established by the PSC. We recommended that the PSC specify in the Order that the STRIDE plan would only be approved for three years and that only costs incurred through the three-year period (2021-2023) would be eligible for recovery through the surcharge. We also provided recommendations on corrections to the calculation of property taxes in the cost recovery mechanism. We supported the OPC with settlement discussions that resulted in a settlement containing stipulations for each of our recommendations.