What was the annual increase in base revenue collected by Chesapeake Energy after the settlement with the Florida Public Service Commission? 
tinually seek opportunities to expand our footprint. We look for non-regulated investments to meet three fundamental criteria. Investments that are; one, strategically relevant and related to our core energy businesses; two, that meet our return targets; and three, that exhibit risk profiles that are consistent with our existing non-regulated businesses. We seek to provide total shareholder return in the upper quartile of our peers and build short and long-term performance, a product of our earnings and dividend growth driven by capital projects that can achieve an adequate return on investment at our prescribed targets. On this slide we've identified the primary drivers of growth that we are constantly pursuing. I can envision us expanding this diagram further next year as we pursue opportunities across the value chain for CNG, RNG and eventually LNG.
Projects completed or under way are highlighted on Slide 13. As Beth noted in regards to our capital forecast for 2020, we still primarily invest in regulated businesses, most notably transmission pipelines and distribution mains to add services to new customers and existing or expanding geographic areas. We're also comfortable with strategic investments in our unregulated businesses, propane distribution acquisitions like Boulden and Western Natural Gas at the Marlin Gas Services, Eight Flags, Aspire all have similar characteristics to a regulated utility but have consistently generated increased returns above the allowed regulated utility returns.
For us, our non-regulated businesses are core to who we are and to what we do. They are the means for achieving our higher than regulated ROEs and also support our EPS growth track record and projected EPS growth profile. As shown on the slide, we've been able to complete numerous projects and acquisitions and successfully integrate them into the Chesapeake family and we're actively engaged in many other projects that we believe position us for future growth. Our pipeline investments in particular give us the opportunity to expand local gas distribution for new customers and transport renewable natural gas.
Let me provide a little more detail on our most recent propane acquisition on Slide 14. On October 26th, we completed the acquisition of Western Natural Gas, a family owned business founded in the 1940s. Western Natural in the Jacksonville, Florida area adjacent to our Northeast Florida service territory in Nassau County on Amelia Island, the business will operate under the Sharp brand with current volume of about 1 million gallons annually that serves approximately 4,000 customers. We believe the commitment of Sharp and the legacy of Western Natural Gas team to provide quality service will be an advantage to increase the customer base as that important market continues to grow. We're also excited about the opportunities to market our oil and gas offering and leverage other programs and services that have been key to Sharp's success.
As shown on Slide 15, our regulatory team successfully settled with the Florida Public Service Commission on the Hurricane Michael limited proceeding in September. Florida PSC approved the proposed settlement to recover the costs in the rates associated with our restoration of electric distribution services in our Northwest Florida Division. We recorded storm cost of $45.8 million as a regulatory asset, including interest to be amortized over six years. That resulted in a surcharge of $7.7 million annually. In addition to that, we're also collecting an annual increase in base revenue of $3.3 million to cover the rate base related capital cost associated with our hurricane.
On Slide 16 is a table we included in our third quarter press release. Given the various components with the settlement, we thought it would be useful to lay out the details. As you can see the operating income generated from the settlement approximates the net income impact for both the quarter and year-to-date. We note the gross margin year-to-date of $8.3 million and projected for the year of $11 million in the following ke
tinually seek opportunities to expand our footprint. We look for non-regulated investments to meet three fundamental criteria. Investments that are; one, strategically relevant and related to our core energy businesses; two, that meet our return targets; and three, that exhibit risk profiles that are consistent with our existing non-regulated businesses. We seek to provide total shareholder return in the upper quartile of our peers and build short and long-term performance, a product of our earnings and dividend growth driven by capital projects that can achieve an adequate return on investment at our prescribed targets. On this slide we've identified the primary drivers of growth that we are constantly pursuing. I can envision us expanding this diagram further next year as we pursue opportunities across the value chain for CNG, RNG and eventually LNG.
Projects completed or under way are highlighted on Slide 13. As Beth noted in regards to our capital forecast for 2020, we still primarily invest in regulated businesses, most notably transmission pipelines and distribution mains to add services to new customers and existing or expanding geographic areas. We're also comfortable with strategic investments in our unregulated businesses, propane distribution acquisitions like Boulden and Western Natural Gas at the Marlin Gas Services, Eight Flags, Aspire all have similar characteristics to a regulated utility but have consistently generated increased returns above the allowed regulated utility returns.
For us, our non-regulated businesses are core to who we are and to what we do. They are the means for achieving our higher than regulated ROEs and also support our EPS growth track record and projected EPS growth profile. As shown on the slide, we've been able to complete numerous projects and acquisitions and successfully integrate them into the Chesapeake family and we're actively engaged in many other projects that we believe position us for future growth. Our pipeline investments in particular give us the opportunity to expand local gas distribution for new customers and transport renewable natural gas.
 Let me provide a little more detail on our most recent propane acquisition on Slide 14. On October 26th, we completed the acquisition of Western Natural Gas, a family owned business founded in the 1940s. Western Natural in the Jacksonville, Florida area adjacent to our Northeast Florida service territory in Nassau County on Amelia Island, the business will operate under the Sharp brand with current volume of about 1 million gallons annually that serves approximately 4,000 customers. We believe the commitment of Sharp and the legacy of Western Natural Gas team to provide quality service will be an advantage to increase the customer base as that important market continues to grow. We're also excited about the opportunities to market our oil and gas offering and leverage other programs and services that have been key to Sharp's success.
As shown on Slide 15, our regulatory team successfully settled with the Florida Public Service Commission on the Hurricane Michael limited proceeding in September. Florida PSC approved the proposed settlement to recover the costs in the rates associated with our restoration of electric distribution services in our Northwest Florida Division. We recorded storm cost of $45.8 million as a regulatory asset, including interest to be amortized over six years. That resulted in a surcharge of $7.7 million annually. In addition to that, we're also collecting an annual increase in base revenue of $3.3 million to cover the rate base related capital cost associated with our hurricane.
On Slide 16 is a table we included in our third quarter press release. Given the various components with the settlement, we thought it would be useful to lay out the details. As you can see the operating income generated from the settlement approximates the net income impact for both the quarter and year-to-date. We note the gross margin year-to-date of $8.3 million and projected for the year of $11 million in the following ke