[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 3, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5157-5158]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-2528]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
18 CFR Part 284
[Docket No. RM96-1-010; Order No.
587-J]
Standards For Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas
Pipelines
Issued January 28, 1999.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; order on rehearing.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is granting rehearing
and clarification of Order No. 587-I, 63 FR 53565, with respect to the
procedures pipelines must follow in maintaining parity between
transactions offered on interactive Internet web sites and transactions
provided using electronic file transfer.
ADDRESSES: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE,
Washington, DC 20426.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael Goldenberg, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426,
(202) 208-2294
Marvin Rosenberg, Office of Economic Policy, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-1283
Kay Morice, Office of Pipeline Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-0507
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission also provides all
interested persons an opportunity to inspect or copy the contents of
this document during normal business hours in the Public Reference Room
at 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426. The Commission
Issuance Posting System (CIPS) provides access to the texts of formal
documents issued by the Commission. CIPS can be accessed via Internet
through FERC's Homepage (http://www.ferc.fed.us) using the CIPS Link or
the Energy Information Online icon. The full text of this document will
be available on CIPS in ASCII and WordPerfect 6.1 format. CIPS is also
available through the Commission's electronic bulletin board service at
no charge to the user and may be accessed using a personal computer
with a modem by dialing 202-208-1397, if dialing locally, or 1-800-856-
3920, if dialing long distance. To access CIPS, set your communications
software to 19200, 14400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800, 2400, or 1200 bps,
full duplex, no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. User assistance is
available at 202-208-2474 or by E-mail to [email protected]
This document is also available through the Commission's Records
and Information Management System (RIMS), an electronic storage and
retrieval system of documents submitted to and issued by the Commission
after November 16, 1981. Documents from November 1995 to the present
can be viewed and printed. RIMS is available in the Public Reference
Room or remotely via Internet through FERC's Homepage using the RIMS
link or the Energy Information Online icon. User assistance is
available at 202-208-2222, or by E-mail to [email protected]
Finally, the complete text on diskette in WordPerfect format may be
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, RVJ International,
Inc. RVJ International, Inc., is located in the Public Reference Room
at 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426.
Before Commissioners: James J. Hoecker, Chairman; Vicky A.
Bailey, William L. Massey, Linda Breathitt, and Curt Hebert, Jr.
Order No. 587-J; Order Granting Rehearing and Clarification
On October 29, 1998, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of
America (INGAA) filed a request for clarification or rehearing of Order
No. 587-I 1 with respect to the policy for achieving parity
between interactive Internet web sites and electronic file transfers.
The Commission grants rehearing and provides clarification as discussed
below.
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\1\ Standards For Business Practices Of Interstate Natural Gas
Pipelines, Order No. 587-I, 63 FR 53565 (Oct. 6, 1998), III FERC
Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles para. 31,067 (Sep. 29, 1998).
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Background
In Order No. 587-I, the Commission, in relevant part, adopted a
dual approach to communications with interstate pipelines. Shippers
were given the choice of transacting business with pipelines either
through an interactive Internet web site 2 or through
standardized computer-to-computer file transfers. The Commission has
incorporated by reference into its regulations standards governing
electronic file transfers promulgated by the Gas Industry Standards
Board (GISB).3 These standards employ a format using ASC X12
electronic data interchange (EDI).4 To ensure a level
playing field for those using interactive web sites and EDI file
transfers, the Commission sought to ensure that shippers could conduct
the same transactions and receive the same response priority regardless
of the format used.5
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\2\ Interactive web sites permit shippers to view information
on-line and transmit information to the pipelines by filling in on-
line forms.
\3\ GISB is a private, not-for-profit standards organization
with membership drawn from all segments of the natural gas industry,
including pipelines, local distribution companies, producers, end-
users, and service providers (including gas marketers). Its
standards must be approved by a consensus of the industry segments.
\4\ Standards for EDI are promulgated by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12.
\5\ Order No. 587-I, 63 FR at 53571, III FERC Stats. & Regs.
Regulations Preambles para. 31,067 at 30,740.
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The Commission further recognized that pipelines might have a need
to update and offer new services on their interactive web sites. In
order to maintain equality between interactive web sites and EDI file
transfers, the Commission established a process to ensure that,
whenever feasible, newly-developed transactions available on
interactive web sites will also be available through EDI file
transfers:
when pipelines are developing new services for their interactive web
sites, they must also consider the method for implementing the
business practice using EDI and, in compliance with standard 1.2.2,
provide advance notice of their proposed EDI solution to GISB for
review. Before initiating the new service, pipelines should file
under section 4 of the NGA at least 30 days prior to the proposed
implementation date detailing the efforts they have made to develop
a standardized file transfer. If the pipeline has complied with the
requirement to provide GISB with advance notice of their proposed
EDI solution, it would be permitted to implement its new service on
schedule. This approach should not inhibit development of new
interactive solutions while at the same time helping to ensure that
those using file transfers are not denied a
[[Page 5158]]
reasonable opportunity to obtain the same service.6
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\6\ Order No. 587-I, 63 FR at 53571, III FERC Stats. & Regs.
Regulations Preambles para. 31,067 at 30,740.
INGAA contends the Commission has established a new procedural
requirement for pipeline filings and seeks clarification of the advance
notice requirement. INGAA maintains that the Commission introduced this
new procedure without seeking industry comment. It further argues that
the new procedure is unworkable because it may require pipelines to
provide special notice to GISB prior to making a filing under section 4
of the Natural Gas Act (NGA). INGAA maintains that providing advance
notice only to some customers could be discriminatory. INGAA requests
clarification that pipelines should provide notice to GISB within a
reasonable time after they file a notice of a new service with the
Commission under section 4 of the NGA. In the alternative, INGAA
requests rehearing of the advance notice requirement.
Discussion
In Order No. 587-I, the Commission's goal was to provide shippers
with the ability to choose the communication methodology that best fits
their business needs. The Commission, therefore, required pipelines to
permit shippers to conduct transactions either through on-line
transactions via the pipelines' proprietary interactive web site or by
using computer-to-computer standardized EDI file transfers. To ensure
that both types of shippers are treated without discrimination, the
Commission required that all transactions conducted on the pipelines'
interactive web site must, whenever feasible, also be available through
EDI file transfers. As described in Order No. 587-I, the Commission and
GISB already have started a process to ensure that all current
transactions that are conducted on pipeline web sites can be
accomplished, when feasible, through interactive file
transfers.7
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\7\ Order No. 587-I, 63 FR at 53570-71, III FERC Stats. & Regs.
Regulations Preambles para. 31,067 at 30,738, 30,740.
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But that leaves the procedure to be followed when pipelines, in the
future, develop new electronic transactions to be conducted on their
interactive web sites. The Commission's policy, as articulated in Order
No. 587-I, is that whenever pipelines begin to develop new interactive
transactions, they must at the same time develop a method by which the
transactions can be accomplished using EDI file transfer so that
shippers using EDI are given a comparable opportunity to accomplish the
transactions electronically. Moreover, in order to ensure consistency
in the standardized EDI file transfers, pipelines must keep GISB
informed of the pipelines' proposed EDI solutions during the course of
development, so that GISB can review the pipelines' proposed approaches
to ensure that they are consistent with GISB's standards.
In Order No. 587-I, the Commission stated that the pipelines should
file, pursuant to section 4 of the Natural Gas Act, whenever they
propose to implement a new electronic transaction. Upon
reconsideration, however, the Commission has determined that it is not
necessary for pipelines to make a section 4 filing to effectuate the
Commission's policy. Instead, pipelines must post on their interactive
web sites a notice of the new transaction along with the method of
accomplishing that transaction using EDI file transfer. Pipelines also
must make an informational filing with the Commission when they
implement the new transaction and should, in that filing, detail the
efforts they have made to develop an acceptable EDI file transfer
capability, including the amount of advance notice they have provided
to GISB of the file transfer capability they have proposed.
The Commission can use this informational filing to monitor the
pipelines' compliance with Commission policy to determine whether the
policy is working or whether further Commission action is necessary. In
addition, shippers who are unable to use, or are having difficulty
with, pipeline EDI file transfers can make use of the Commission's
Enforcement Hotline or the complaint process to bring these to the
Commission's attention.
In its rehearing request, INGAA contends that providing GISB with
notice of a pipeline's electronic transactions before the pipeline
makes its section 4 filing is improper because it would prematurely
disclose to certain parties the contents of the section 4 filing. Since
the Commission is no longer requiring pipelines to make section 4
filings to implement new electronic transactions, INGAA's concern about
premature disclosure of a pipeline's section 4 filing is no longer
material.
INGAA further contends that GISB, not the pipelines, should be
responsible for developing EDI file transfers. The Commission
disagrees. Pipelines must be actively involved in developing file
transfer capability and cannot leave that process solely in GISB's
hands. When a pipeline is developing a new transaction for its Internet
web site, it is responsible for reviewing the current file transfer
datasets and determining how its proposed transaction can best be
handled through EDI file transfer. The pipeline is the most familiar
with its new electronic offering and, therefore, is in the best
position to develop a file transfer approach to handling that
transaction. The pipeline would then inform GISB of its proposed
solution so that GISB can review the pipeline's approach to ensure the
approach is the most effective means of integrating the transaction
into the standardized datasets.8
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\8\ This is similar to the process under GISB standard 1.2.2,
where the pipeline and a shipper mutually agreed to datasets which
they then submit to GISB for review and implementation. 18 CFR
284.10(b)(1)(i), Nominations Related Standards 1.2.2.
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The Commission Orders
Rehearing is granted and clarification is provided as discussed in
the body of the order.
By the Commission.
Linwood A. Watson, Jr.,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 99-2528 Filed 2-2-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
