About this Submission

Thousands of small businesses, from commercial laundries to bakeries, depend on gas. These businesses face pressure with wholesale and network components of gas costs rising. This submission notes that small business gas users have little market power, and that any revision to existing regulation needs to bear in mind the needs of smaller market players. It argues that concerns over theoretical abuses of monopoly power should not supersede more substantiated concerns over shortfalls in gas supply in coming years. It calls on the department to avoid changes to gas pipeline regulation without more clearly demonstrating its case for change.