[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 9, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 647-648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-245]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
[Docket No. CP95-565-001]
Equitrans, Inc.; Notice of Amendment
January 3, 1996.
Take notice that on December 29, 1995, Equitrans, Inc. (Equitrans),
3500 Park Lane, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15275, filed an amendment
(Amendment) to its original application in Docket No. CP95-565-000,
which was filed pursuant to Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act, the
purpose of which is to: (1) Amend the application by (a) withdrawing
the request for advance Commission approval of recovery through
jurisdictional rates of the undepreciated costs of the storage
reservoir and return thereon in the event of reservoir damage, and (b)
indicating that Equitrans proposes to withdraw 400 MMcf of natural gas
during the three-year period in which it proposes to inject up to 300
MMcf of nitrogen; and (2) supplement its application with (a)
assurances of service continuation despite any such reservoir damage,
(b) information requested by certain parties that participated in a
technical conference held on September 15, 1995, and (c) a brief
summary of the points made by the speakers at the technical conference
along with copies of slides that were shown, all as more fully set
fourth in the application which is on file with the Commission and open
to public inspection.
Equitrans states that, based on the concerns expressed by its
customers, Equitrans has reexamined the risks and remediation
strategies for the project and has determined that the risk of damage
being sustained at the Shirley storage reservoir as the result of
injecting nitrogen under the controlled conditions carefully developed
for the project is de minimis. To allay the concerns expressed by
certain intervenor-customers about their rights to challenge future
rate treatment of Shirley storage costs, Equitrans states that it
hereby foregoes its request for rate recovery treatment of such costs.
Equitrans states that in the unlikely event that the injection of
nitrogen mixes with cushion or working gas of the Shirley reservoir or
causes damage to surface facilities, Equitrans will bear all costs of
remediating storage field operations. Further, it is stated that any
such costs will not be included in rates in any future proceeding.
Rather Equitrans, contends that it will use the revenues which it
proposes to retain from the sale of base gas from the Shirley reservoir
to fund any required remediation activities.\1\ Based on the risk
assessment work performed over the last several months, Equitrans
states that it is convinced that the risk of
[[Page 648]]
nitrogen blending with natural gas to an extend which would adversely
impact storage operations is remote, and that such an occurrence could
be remediated quickly and effectively at a minimal cost. Equitrans
contends that this project is important both for itself and for the
industry and is willing to assume the risks of the project to see it
moves forward.
\1\ As part of its original application, Equitrans requested
authorization to sell the gas withdrawn from the Shirley reservoir
to accommodate the nitrogen injection process, to credit its
``Account 117, Gas stored underground--noncurrent'' for the LIFO
inventory value of the gas withdrawn, and to retain any revenues
received from the sale of the gas.
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Equitrans states that it intends to withdraw up to 400 MMcf of
natural gas as part of the project, instead of the 300 MMcf it
originally proposed. The reason Equitrans proposes to withdraw
approximately 100 MMcf more of its base gas than it will replace with
nitrogen is that by doing so, the pressures within the reservoir will
push the nitrogen away from the main portion of the reservoir where the
working gas is stored and toward a narrow southeastern perimeter of the
reservoir where only base gas is present, and which perimeter is
separated from the main portion of the reservoir by a thin ``neck''
area. It is stated that the net reduction in the amount of cushion gas
in the Shirley reservoir will ultimately reduce Equitrans'' storage
rate base to the benefit of customers, while having virtually no impact
on storage operations.
After reassessing the maximum risk of any reservoir damage
resulting from implementation of the proposed project, Equitrans states
that it will commit that certificated entitlement levels of existing
storage customers will be met through the term of all existing storage
contracts regardless of any unforeseen adverse effects of injecting
nitrogen into the Shirley reservoir. Equitrans contends that this
commitment is made in order to render moot the security of supply
concerns expressed by certain intervenor-customers, thereby limiting
the number of issued needed to be addressed by the Commission.
Any person desiring to be heard or to make any protest with
reference to said application should on or before January 12, 1996,
file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20426, a motion to intervene or a protest in accordance with the
requirements of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18
CFR 385.214 or 385.211) and the Regulations under the Natural Gas Act
(18 CFR 157.10). All protests filed with the Commission will be
considered by it in determining the appropriate action to be taken but
will not serve to make the protestants parties to the proceeding. Any
person wishing to become a party to a proceeding or to participate as a
party in any hearing therein must file a motion to intervene in
accordance with the Commission's Rules.
Take further notice that, pursuant to the authority contained in
and subject to jurisdiction conferred upon the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission by Sections 7 and 15 of the Natural Gas Act and
the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, a hearing will be
held with further notice before the Commission or its designee on this
application if no motion to intervene is filed within the time required
herein, if the Commission on its own review of the matter finds that a
grant of the certificate is required by the public convenience and
necessity. If a motion for leave to intervene is timely filed, or if
the Commission on its own motion believes that a formal hearing is
required, further notice of such hearing will be duly given.
Under the procedure herein provided for, unless otherwise advised,
it will be unnecessary for Equitrans to appear or be represented at the
hearing.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-245 Filed 1-8-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M
