Jun. 10--The handout from Columbia Gas used an exclamation point in answering the question of the hour: "Is Columbia Gas of Ohio getting out of the gas business?"

The answer: "No!" Columbia sought to underscore that point last night at a public hearing at Wolfe Park on the East Side, held by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The PUCO is considering a plan that would let Columbia purchase its gas through a wholesale auction.

Only two members of the public showed up for the hearing, along with about 20 state officials and Columbia employees.

Leo Thurn, a resident of the Brewery District, was one of those two. He said he sees no reason to change the way Columbia buys gas.

"Why are we here in the first place?" he asked.

If the plan is approved, customers likely would notice few differences, Columbia has said. The company would still handle billing and the transportation of gas.

The biggest difference would be that the market price of gas would determine the customer's price each month, as opposed to the current system, in which Columbia has leeway to reduce the volatility in pricing.

Under a wholesale auction, customers would pay the market price plus an additional charge to cover the provider's expenses. Various companies would bid to offer the lowest price for this charge.

Columbia's transportation charge, which is about 20 percent of a typical gas bill, would remain the same and would be on top of the other charges.

Additional hearings are planned. The PUCO is gathering information through these hearings and will make a decision on the Columbia request. Its proposal calls for the plan to take effect in the spring.

Two other Ohio gas companies, Vectren in the Dayton area and Dominion in the Cleveland area, both have held wholesale auctions.

Those moves are part of Ohio's evolving deregulation of the gas market, which began in the late 1990s for residential customers.

Dominion has taken the process a step further, by then holding a retail auction, in which marketers bid for the right to offer the services of the traditional gas company.

Columbia has not indicated that it wants to do a retail auction. Before it can consider such a move, the company says, it needs to see how the wholesale auction goes.

Three more hearings are planned: Thursday in Parma; June 23 in Toledo; and June 25 in Athens. Each begins at 6 p.m. For information on locations and details on the proposal, visit www.PUCO.ohio.gov. Click on the link to Docketing Information System (DIS) and enter the case number 08-1344-GA-EXM.

dgearino@dispatch.com

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