COLUMBIA GAS &lt;CG> SEEKS CONTRACT COST RECOVERY
  Columbia Gas Transmission
  corp said it made an abbreviated, streamlined filing with the
  Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to recover a portion if
  its costs of renegotiating high-cost gas purchase contracts.
      Recently, the Columbia Gas System Inc pipeline subsidiary
  said, FERC denied on procedural grounds and without prejudice a
  proposal to include these costs in the company's most recent
  purchased gas adjustment -- or PGA -- filing.
      Noting it has has asked for a rehearing on the denial
  ruling, Columbia Gas said it would withdraw its alternative
  filing if the commission grantes its request for a rehearing to
  include the contract renegotiation costs in its PGA or
  consolidates this issue in the pipeline's general rate filing
  and permit recovery, subject to refund, effective April one.
      The company said the alternative filing seeks to recover
  about 79 mln dlrs a year through the pipeline's non-gas sales
  commodity rates. This annual amortization amount is based on
  recovery of about 653 mln drls over an 8-1/4 year period,
  beginning April 1, 1987.
      Columbia Gas said the filing would increase the pipeline
  commodity rates by 15.74 cts per mln Btu to 2.95 dlrs per mln.
      The company said it orginially sought to include these
  costs in its PGA since the payments to products resulted in
  almost five billion dlrs in prospective price relief and were
  not related to take-or-pay buyout costs.
      It explained this interpretation was based on FERC's April
  10, 1985, Statement of Policy which said that only take-or-pay
  buyout costs must be recovered through a general rate filing
  under the Natural Gas Act.
      As a result of renegotiating contracts for high-cost gas,
  Columbia Gas said, it has been able to reduce the average price
  paid for gas purchased from Southwest producers to 1.96 dlrs
  per mln Btu in December 1986 from 3.64 dlrs per mln in April
  1985.
      The pipeline said Southwestern producers account for 46 pct
  of its total available gas supply this year.
  

