Did PUCO Have Authority to Give Gas Company Control Over Repair of Customer-Owned Service Lines?
Utility Service Partners, Inc. v. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Case no. 2008-1507 ISSUE: Did the state Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) exceed its authority by granting Columbia Gas of Ohio exclusive control over the repair or replacement of customer-owned service lines in its service area, effectively nullifying outside gas line repair contracts between more than 100,000 Columbia customers and private warranty service providers? BACKGROUND: In April 2008, the PUCO approved a stipulated agreement between Columbia Gas of Ohio and several utility user groups and issued an order authorizing Columbia to: 1) inspect the “riser” (the final, above-ground connector linking an underground gas line to the gas meter inside a building) in all buildings in Columbia’s 22-county service area, and whenever it found a certain type of potentially dangerous plastic riser fitting to replace that fitting with a metal riser; 2) assume exclusive responsibility for repairing or replacing the cus
