CHAPTER 51: GAS REGULATIONS
Section
General Provisions
   51.01   Gas meters
   51.02   Quality standards
Rates and Charges
   51.15   Gas fees
   51.16   Billings; when due
GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 51.01 GAS METERS.
   (A)   The Department of Public Works shall not furnish gas to more than one (1) customer or user on the same meter or the same gas line connection, except in those cases where the property owner or landlord requests such service for his or her tenants or his or her property, carries the account in his or her name, and agrees and contracts to pay for all gas furnished through that meter or gas line connection.
   (B)   If the purpose of an additional meter due to the first meter not being able to carry the load of the combined connections to a single-family dwelling, then a second meter may be installed at the customer’s request (the customer will be charged for the second installed meter). The customer will be required to pay for all gas furnished as combined usage of both meters. The customer, however, will not be required to pay a minimum bill on both meters. If the combined usage is not above the minimum billing the customer will only be required to pay the minimum for one (1) meter, not two (2). The Department will not furnish the pipe or install a line from the city meter line to the building, business, apartment or home.
   (C)   In all cases of multiple-family units or apartment houses, the Department of Public Works shall furnish a meter to, or make a connection on the city gas line for each customer or user residing in that building or apartment house, but the connection shall be made only at the city gas line. However, the Department shall not furnish the pipe or install a line from the city gas line to that building or apartment house.
(Ord. 610.1, passed 2-22-51; Am. Ord. 0-2007-009, passed 2-26-07)
§ 51.02 QUALITY STANDARDS.
   (A)   All natural gas delivered into the natural gas system shall always comply with the following standards and shall be commercially merchantable and be free from water, oil, gasoline, salt, gum, gum-forming constituents, dust, solids, or any other substance of any kind that could become separated from the gas while flowing in the Natural Gas System pipelines and mains.
      (1)   The gas delivered shall contain no less than nine hundred and fifty (950) BTU per cubic foot nor more than eleven hundred (1,100) BTU per cubic foot as determined by calorimeter tests at sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit and saturated with water vapor.
      (2)   The gas delivered shall contain less than seven (7) pounds of water per million standard cubic feet (mmcf) measured at fourteen and seventh tenths (14.7) pounds per square inch and sixty (60) degrees Fahrenheit when measured on an approved dew point tester.
      (3)   The gas delivered shall contain zero percent (0%) hydrogen, not more than one-tenth percent (.1%) by volume of oxygen, four percent (4%) by volume of combined nitrogen and carbon dioxide; however, the carbon dioxide content shall be no more than three percent (3%) by volume and the total of all non-hydrocarbon gases shall be no more than four percent (4%) by volume.
      (4)   The gas delivered shall contain no more than twenty (20) grains of total sulfur per one hundred (100) cubic feet.
      (5)   The gas delivered shall contain no more than twenty-five hundredths (0.25) grains of hydrogen sulfide per one hundred (100) cubic feet.
      (6)   The gas delivered shall have a minimum flowing temperature of forty (40) degrees Fahrenheit and maximum flowing temperature of one hundred and twenty (120) degrees Fahrenheit.
      (7)   The gas delivered shall not contain environmentally unacceptable substances such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
   (B)   It shall be the sole responsibility of the gas producer or supplier to comply with and satisfy the above set forth quality standards at their sole cost and expense.
   (C)   The city, by and through its agent, may analyze the gas delivered into its natural gas system by producers or suppliers at least once a year to assure the quality specifications set forth above are being met. In the event that the specifications are not being met, the city shall have the right to discontinue gas purchases which are not in compliance with the herein set out standards with notice to the supplier or producers simultaneous with the termination of gas purchases. Purchases shall not be resumed by the city until such time as the supplier or producer of natural gas have taken the necessary steps to meet the quality standards set forth herein and has produced gas quality analysis test from an independent laboratory establishing that the standards are being met and shall reimburse the city for the cost of their testing.
   (D)   It shall be the obligation of the supplier or producer to, at its sole cost and expense, install and maintain any equipment necessary to satisfy the natural gas quality standards prior to the acceptance by the city for delivery into its natural gas system.
(Ord. 0-98-015, passed 7-27-98)
RATES AND CHARGES
§ 51.15 GAS FEES.
   (A)   Gas fees shall be set forth as follows:
      (1)   The customer rate shall be calculated by taking the fix rate as outlined under division (B) and adding the cost as outlined under division (C) and adding the cost as outlined under division (C) in order for the city to recover all incurred cost dollar-for-dollar. This calculation shall be conducted by the city’s Utility and Finance Department or by a qualified agency contracted by the city.
      (2)   The following minimums are set for a billing cycle. Customers will be billed using the formula set forth herein unless their total falls below the minimum billing amount at which time the customer account will bill the minimum payment as set below in that billing cycle.
      INSIDE CITY LIMITS      $19.415 (minimum bill)
      OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS      $20.165 (minimum bill)
   (B)   Included in the natural gas distribution rates is the city adder, for the inside and outside city limits, which represents the expected cost to be incurred by the city in the procurement of natural gas to be sold to the city’s distribution list. The city adders, listed below in division (B)(1), are calculated by the City Finance and Utility Department or a qualified agency contracted by the city. Any changes to the adder must be approved by the City Commission. The city intends that any and all costs incurred by the city for natural gas shall be recovered on a dollar-for-dollar basis from the city’s natural gas distribution customers. The total distribution rate shall be calculated by taking the city adder and the gas cost, as calculated under division (C). The updated distribution rates will be effective to customers on the first day of the month, quarterly, starting January 1, 2010.
      (1)   City Adders:
         INSIDE CITY LIMITS
         First 2 MCF/Month      $12.00
         Over 2 MCF/Month      $ 2.715
         OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS
         First 2 MCF/Month      $12.750
         Over 2 MCF/Month      $ 3.4.65
   (C)   The gas cost component of the natural gas distribution rates shall hereafter be referred to as the Gas Cost Recovery (GCR) rate. The GCR rate shall be calculated on a quarterly basis commencing January 1, 2010 and is composed of the Expected Gas Cost (EGC), which is explained below in division (C)(1).
      (1)   The EGC represents the projected cost of natural gas per MCF for the applicable quarterly period. The projected costs are to be inclusive of any and all natural gas procurement costs to be incurred by the city including commodity, transportation and any other ancillary costs.
      (2)   The most currently effective GCR rate shall be calculated thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of the proposed rate. The total distribution rates shall be automatically adjusted, either positively or negatively, by the change in the currently effective GCR rate.
(Ord. 0-98-004, passed 1-26-98; Am. Ord. 0-2000-022, passed 12-21-00; Am. Ord. 0-2001-008, passed 3-12-01; Am. Ord. 0-2010-04, passed 3-8-10)
§ 51.16 BILLINGS; WHEN DUE.
   All charges for gas service shall be billed and payable in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 54.