REGULATORY MATTERS

Alagasco is subject to regulation by the APSC which established the Rate Stabilization and Equalization (RSE) rate-setting process in 1983. RSE’s current extension is for a seven-year period ended December 31, 2014. RSE will continue after December 31, 2014, unless, after notice to the Company and a hearing, the APSC votes to modify or discontinue the RSE methodology. Alagasco is on a September 30 fiscal year for rate-setting purposes (rate year) and reports on a calendar year for Securities and Exchange Commission reporting purposes.

Alagasco's allowed range of return on average common equity remains 13.15 percent to 13.65 percent throughout the term of the RSE order. Under RSE, the APSC conducts quarterly reviews to determine whether Alagasco's return on average common equity at the end of the rate year will be within the allowed range of return. Reductions in rates can be made quarterly to bring the projected return within the allowed range; increases, however, are allowed only once each rate year, effective December 1, and cannot exceed 4 percent of prior-year revenues. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Alagasco had reduction in revenues of $6.7 million pre-tax to bring the return on average equity to midpoint within the allowed range of return. During the year ended December 31, 2010, Alagasco had reduction in revenues of $17.4 million pre-tax to bring the return on average equity to midpoint within the allowed range of return. Alagasco had a $1.5 million pre-tax reduction in revenues to bring the return on average equity to midpoint within allowed range of return during the year ended December 31, 2009. Under the provisions of RSE, a $13.0 million annual increase, $1.3 million annual decrease and $10.2 million annual increase in revenues became effective December 1, 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively.

RSE limits the utility’s equity upon which a return is permitted to 55 percent of total capitalization, subject to certain adjustments. Under the inflation-based Cost Control Measurement (CCM) established by the APSC, if the percentage change in operations and maintenance (O&M) expense on an aggregate basis falls within a range of 0.75 points above or below the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers (Index Range), no adjustment is required. If the change in O&M expense on an aggregate basis exceeds the Index Range, three-quarters of the difference is returned to customers. To the extent the change is less than the Index Range, the utility benefits by one-half of the difference through future rate adjustments. The O&M expense base for measurement purposes will be set at the prior year’s actual O&M expense amount unless the Company exceeds the top of the Index Range in two successive years, in which case the base for the following year will be set at the top of the Index Range. Certain items that fluctuate based on situations demonstrated to be beyond Alagasco’s control may be excluded from the CCM calculation. In the rate year ended September 30, 2010, $2.5 million of extraordinary bad debt expense was excluded from the CCM calculation. Alagasco’s O&M expense fell within the Index Range for the rate years ended September 30, 2011, 2010 and 2009.

Alagasco’s rate schedules for natural gas distribution charges contain a GSA rider, established in 1993, which permits the pass-through to customers of changes in the cost of gas supply. Alagasco’s tariff provides a temperature adjustment mechanism, also included in the GSA, that is designed to moderate the impact of departures from normal temperatures on Alagasco’s earnings. The temperature adjustment applies primarily to residential, small commercial and small industrial customers. Other non-temperature weather related conditions that may affect customer usage are not included in the temperature adjustment.

The APSC approved an Enhanced Stability Reserve in 1998 which was subsequently modified and expanded in 2010. As currently approved, the ESR provides deferred treatment and recovery for the following: (1) extraordinary O&M expenses related to environmental response costs; (2) extraordinary O&M expenses related to self insurance costs that exceed $1 million per occurrence; (3) extraordinary O&M expenses, other than environmental response costs and self insurance costs, resulting from a single force majeure event or multiple force majeure events greater than $275,000 and $412,500, respectively, during a rate year; and (4) negative individual large commercial and industrial customer budget revenue variances that exceed $350,000 during a rate year.

Charges to the ESR are subject to certain limitations which may disallow deferred treatment and which proscribe the timing of recovery. Funding to the ESR is provided as a reduction to the refundable negative salvage balance over its nine year term beginning December 1, 2010. Subsequent to the nine year period and subject to APSC authorization, Alagasco anticipates recovering underfunded ESR balances over a five year period with an annual limitation of $660,000.

The excess of total acquisition costs over book value of net assets of acquired municipal gas distribution systems is included in utility plant and is being amortized through Alagasco's rate-setting mechanism on a straight-line basis with a weighted average remaining life of approximately 6 years. At December 31, 2011 and 2010, the net acquisition adjustments were $4.4 million and $5.1 million, respectively.