Monthly cashout is a method of balancing gas transportation customers'
monthly actual use with nominated gas use. Monthly cashout is related to daily
balancing. It was developed by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
to encourage transportation customers to keep their nominations as close
to actual use as possible.
Each month, WPS reviews the amount of gas a transportation
customer nominates (gas delivered from the pipeline to WPS)
versus what the customers' actual use is on the meter. If customers
nominate more gas than actually used, the utility buys the excess gas
from them. If customers use more gas than nominated, they buy the additional
gas from the utility. This transaction can be seen as a credit or debit
on a customer's bill and serves as an incentive for customers to nominate
close to actual consumption.
Customer benefit
The monthly cashout gives gas transportation customers and WPS
a fair way to keep imbalances from building up throughout the year.
Transportation customers are given some flexibility in nominating the
amount of gas they'll use each month. The cashout encourages these customers
to carefully monitor their gas usage in comparison to the gas they buy
and move on the interstate pipeline.
Monthly cashout minimizes the impact on system supply customers if transportation
customers start varying to a large degree from their nominations. In addition,
it keeps utility and transportation customers' accounting records up to
date, minimizes impacts to the distribution system and provides competitively
priced gas.
Monthly measures
WPS measures the gas consumption of transportation customers
on a daily basis. ANR Pipeline Co., or your local broker or marketer,
provides WPS with an official month-end summary of your daily
nominations. At the end of each month, the utility compares the pipeline's
nominations with your meter reading. The monthly cashout was designed
to make the price difference minimal if transportation customers fall
close to their nomination, using a WPS rate or index rate.
The closer the nomination is to actual use for the month, the better monthly
cashout deal customers get with the purchase or sale of gas. See our
examples of each situation.
Our official gas transportation tariff
provides more detail about monthly cashout.
