SoCalGas Rates for January 1, 2026 Include a Massive 54.6% Backbone Transportation Service Increase
SoCalGas filed Advice Letter 6578-G (available here) to implement its consolidated gas transportation rate update effective January 1, 2026. Protests are due January 20.
The filing reflects:
- Annual regulatory account amortizations approved in the 2024 Cost Allocation Proceeding;
- Updates to Cost of Capital, greenhouse gas and climate-credit adjustments, low-income program cost recovery, leak-abatement funding; and
- Revised forecasts for company-use fuel and unaccounted-for gas.
In aggregate, the consolidation produces a net systemwide revenue decrease of approximately $17.4 million (with franchise fees and uncollectibles), with sizable bill impacts redistributed across customer classes. The precise impact on class of service is delineated below.
| Class of Service | Applicable Rate Schedules | Net M$ (with FF&U) Increase/(Decrease) |
|---|---|---|
| Core | GR, GS, GM, GO-AC, G-NGVR, GL, G-10, G-AC, G-EN, G-NGV | ($232.8) |
| Noncore | GT-NC, GT-TLS | ($8.9) |
| Unbundled Storage | G-TBS | $0.0 |
| Backbone Transportation Service (BTS) | G-BTS | $224.3 |
| TOTAL | ($17.4) |
Core customers will see a large overall reduction, noncore transportation rates will decline modestly, but Backbone Transportation Service (BTS) rates will rise higher than expected (54.6%) due to higher allocated costs and integration adjustments. (Recall that, in SoCalGas's preliminary version of this filing, which CRI summarized here, SoCalGas projected a 51.2% BTS increase.)
The increase in the BTS revenue requirement to $224.3 million in the 2026 consolidated rate update reflects the stacking of multiple allocation and integration adjustments, not a single driver.