[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 79 (Thursday, April 24, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19921-19923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-10607]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
18 CFR Part 284
[Docket No. RM96-1-006; Order No. 587-D]
Standards For Business Practices Of Interstate Natural Gas
Pipelines
Issued April 18, 1997.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Energy.
ACTION: Final rule; Order denying rehearing.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is denying requests
for rehearing of the dates for complying with the requirements of Order
No. 587-C (62 FR 10684). Order No. 587-C incorporated by reference
standards promulgated by the Gas Industry Standards Board which require
interstate pipelines to post information on World Wide Web homepages
and to comply with new and revised business practices procedures. These
business practices standards supplement standards adopted by the
Commission in Order No. 587. (61 FR 39053, July 26, 1996).
DATES: Effective: April 18, 1997. Pipelines are to make pro forma
tariff
[[Page 19922]]
filings to implement the business practices standards by May 1, 1997.
Implementation of the Internet Web page standards must take place by
August 1, 1997, and the revised and new business practices standards by
November 1, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street,
N.E., 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, N.E., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-
1283;
Kay Morice, Office of Pipeline Regulation, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-
0507.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission provides all
interested persons an opportunity to inspect or copy the contents of
this document during normal business hours in Room 2A, 888 First
Street, N.E., Washington D.C. 20426.
The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS), an electronic
bulletin board service, provides access to the texts of formal
documents issued by the Commission. CIPS is available 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. The full text of this order will
be available on CIPS in ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 format. CIPS user
assistance is available at 202-208-2474.
CIPS is also available on the Internet through the Fed World
system. Telnet software is required. To access CIPS via the Internet,
point your browser to the URL address: http://www.fedworld.gov and
select the ``Go to the FedWorld Telnet Site'' button. When your Telnet
software connects you, log on to the FedWorld system, scroll down and
select FedWorld by typing: 1 and at the command line and type: /go
FERC. FedWorld may also be accessed by Telnet at the address
fedworld.gov.
Finally, the complete text on diskette in WordPerfect format may be
purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, La Dorn Systems
Corporation. La Dorn Systems Corporation is also located in the Public
Reference Room at 888 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426.
Before Commissioners: Elizabeth Anne Moler, Chair; Vicky A.
Bailey, James J. Hoecker, William L. Massey, and Donald F. Santa,
Jr.
Order Denying Rehearing
On April 3, 1997, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America
(INGAA) and Colorado Interstate Gas Company and Wyoming Interstate
Company, Ltd., jointly (CIG/WIC), filed for rehearing of Order No. 587-
C.1 These rehearing requests focus only on the time schedule
for implementation of the standards, not the substance of the
standards. For the reasons discussed below, the rehearing requests are
denied.
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\1\ Order No. 587-C, 62 FR 10684 (Mar. 10, 1997), 78 FERC para.
61,231 (Mar. 4, 1997).
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Background
In Order Nos. 587 and 587-B,2 the Commission
incorporated by reference 140 consensus standards developed by the Gas
Industry Standards Board (GISB) covering certain industry business
practices--Nominations, Flowing Gas, Invoicing, and Capacity Release--
as well as adopting protocols and procedures for exchanging these
business transaction documents over the Internet. Implementation of
these standards follows a staggered schedule beginning April 1, 1997
and ending June 1, 1997.
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\2\ Standards for Business Practices of Interstate Natural Gas
Pipelines, Order No. 587, 61 FR 39053 (Jul. 26, 1996), III FERC
Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles para. 31,038 (Jul. 17, 1996),
reh'g denied, Order No. 587-A, 61 FR 55208 (Oct. 25, 1996), 77 FERC
para. 61,061 (Oct. 21, 1996), Order No. 587-B, 62 FR 5521 (Feb. 6,
1997), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations Preambles para. 31,046
(Jan. 30, 1997).
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In Order No. 587-C, the Commission incorporated by reference 27
GISB business practices standards that revised and supplemented the
standards adopted in Order No. 587 as well as one new communication
standard. GISB proposed that the communication standard be implemented
August 1, 1997 and that pipeline tariff filings to comply with the
business practices standards be made in a staggered schedule in May,
June, and July of 1997, with implementation on November 1, 1997.
GISB had proposed two new communication standards, Standards 4.3.5
and 4.3.6, which would require pipelines to provide certain information
on an Internet World Wide Web homepage (homepage) and to provide for
downloads of the information in a specified file structure.3
The Commission adopted the standard requiring posting on World Wide Web
pages to be effective August 1, 1997, but declined to adopt the
standard requiring file downloads in a specified electronic structure,
because GISB had not yet specified the structure. The Commission stated
that, if GISB adopted standards for the downloadable file formats
quickly, the standards could still be implemented by August 1, 1997.
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\3\ This information includes notices (critical notices,
operation notices, system-wide notices); Order No. 566 affiliated
marketer information (affiliate allocation log, discount postings);
operationally available and unsubscribed capacity; Index of
Customers; and the pipeline's tariff.
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With respect to implementation of the 27 supplemental business
practices standards, the Commission modified GISB's recommended
compliance schedule by requiring all pipelines to make their pro forma
tariff filings by May 1, 1997, rather than according to the May through
July 1997 staggered schedule proposed by GISB. Based on the
Commission's experience with the prior compliance filings, it concluded
that the staggered schedule proposed by GISB would not provide
sufficient time for the Commission to review the filings and issue two
rounds of orders in time to meet the November 1, 1997 implementation
date. The order stated that this change would ensure implementation by
November 1, 1997, without creating undue burdens on the pipelines
because so many fewer standards needed to be implemented and those
standards do not require fundamental changes in pipeline operations.
The Commission, however, declined to adopt three standards (dealing
with intra-day nominations, imbalances, and operational balancing
agreements (OBAs)) 4 because the pipelines' obligations
under these standards were not clear, and the Commission's experience
with the previous standards showed that adoption of imprecise standards
can sometimes cause more harm than good. The Commission concluded that
standards in these areas were needed and gave the industry and GISB
until September 1, 1997 to develop standards that delineate clearly the
pipelines' obligations in these areas.
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\4\ Standards 1.3.32, 2.3.29, and 2.3.30.
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INGAA seeks rehearing of the overall time-line contending that
requiring pipelines to make tariff filings by May 1, 1997, and to
implement the World Wide Web standards and 27 supplemental business
practices standards by August 1, 1997 and November 1, 1997,
respectively, is too
[[Page 19923]]
onerous. INGAA asserts the pipelines are still devoting considerable
resources to ensure a smooth implementation of the first set of 140
standards being implemented April thru June. INGAA maintains that the
GISB and the Commission schedule places the industry under too much
time pressure, especially while the pipelines are attempting to
finalize implementation during the period of uncertainty between final
and rehearing orders. INGAA proposes that the schedule start with pro
forma filings no later than November 1, 1997 with implementation no
later than June 1, 1998.
INGAA maintains, however, that some pipelines may gain economic
efficiency by implementing the 27 supplemental business practices
standards early because these standards complement the first 140
standards. Thus, it emphasizes that its proposal is for implementation
``no later than'' the proposed dates.
CIG/WIC maintain that the August 1, 1997, deadline for
implementation of the downloadable file format is unrealistic since
GISB has not developed the standards yet. CIG/WIC find similarly
unrealistic the September 1, 1997 deadline for clarification of the
vague standards given the complexity of the issues.
Discussion
INGAA's request for an extension of the deadline for compliance
with Order No. 587-C until June 1, 1998 is denied. The schedule
proposed by GISB reflects a consensus of the industry as to an
appropriate schedule for implementation, and the Commission finds no
reason to delay implementation. Standardization of business practices
and communications needs to be a high priority for the industry, and
postponing implementation until the summer of 1998 would unduly delay
these efforts.
INGAA has not identified any factors that would make implementation
of these standards generally difficult for pipelines. There are only 27
revised and new business practices standards, and these merely
supplement the previous 140 standards. Similarly, the technology for
posting information on World Wide Web pages is easily available, and
there are only five categories of information that must be posted. The
absence of a generically applicable implementation problem is evidenced
by INGAA's own recognition that many pipelines would prefer to
implement these standards earlier than INGAA's proposed schedule for
operational reasons. Indeed, some pipelines have sought to comply with
all or most of the 27 supplemental standards six months early by
including them (along with the first 140) in their final compliance
filing to become effective June 1, 1997.5
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\5\ See Northwest Pipeline Company's compliance filing, Docket
No. RP97-180-002 (April 1, 1997) (all 27 business practices
standards and the World Wide Web standard); CNG Transmission
Company's compliance filing, Docket No. RP97-181-002 (April 1, 1997)
(22 business practices standards).
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Further, in Order No. 587-C, the Commission provided that any
pipelines seeking waivers of the requirements of the rule file within
30 days of issuance.6 To date, only five pipelines have
filed for extensions of the implementation dates and two have filed to
extend the tariff filing date, but not the implementation
dates.7 Handling specific problems on an individual basis is
preferable to granting a generic extension and will result in more
rapid progress towards the Commission's goal of reaching a standardized
marketplace.
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\6\ 62 FR at 10689; III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations
Preambles at 30,588.
\7\ Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, Docket No. RP97-60-001;
Midwestern Gas Transmission Company, Docket No. RP97-59-001; East
Tennessee Natural Gas Company, Docket No. RP97-58-001; Williston
Basin Interstate Pipeline Company, Docket No. RM96-1-006; Cove Point
LNG, L.P., Docket No. RP97-162-000; Questar Pipeline Company, Docket
No. RP97-129-000; and Overthrust Pipeline Company, Docket No. RP97-
131-000.
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CIG/WIC's rehearing request concerning the August 1, 1997, deadline
for pipelines to provide for downloads of data from their homepages is
without basis. As pointed out above, the Commission did not adopt
Standard 4.3.5 requiring pipelines to provide for file downloads; the
Commission only expressed its intention should GISB act quickly. Until
that standard is adopted and a deadline set, rehearing does not lie.
The Commission, however, reiterates that the development of a file
download capability is important and urges GISB to develop the required
standards.
The Commission denies CIG/WIC's request for rehearing with respect
to the September 1, 1997 date for GISB to report on its progress in
resolving the three vague standards. This deadline also is necessary
for the Commission to learn within a reasonable timeframe whether the
industry can resolve these issues on its own or whether the Commission
needs to institute procedures to resolve these disputes. If the
industry is unable to reach agreement on these standards, postponing
the deadline will only lead to even further delay in implementing these
needed standards.
The September 1, 1997 deadline gives the industry five months to
work on these standards, which appears adequate to consider these three
standards. The imbalance and operational balancing agreement standards
require only a clearer definition of when the standards
apply.8 Although, as CIG/WIC point out, the intra-day
nomination issue is perhaps more complex, GISB has already appointed
its own task force to examine this issue. Resolving this standard
quickly also is imperative, since the existing intra-day requirements
have created a non-standardized marketplace where shippers cannot
coordinate their intra-day nominations across pipelines.9 In
addition, as the Commission stated in Order No. 587-C, it stands ready
to help expedite the process by resolving intractable policy disputes
impeding the development of standards in any areas.10
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\8\ These standards used the phrase ``economically and
operationally feasible'' to describe when the pipeline must enter
into an OBA and the phrase ``substantially similar financial and
operational implications'' to describe when pipelines must permit
shippers to net imbalances across contracts.
\9\ 62 FR at 10687; III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations
Preambles at para. 30,586.
\10\ 62 FR at 10686; III FERC Stats. & Regs. Regulations
Preambles at para. 30,583.
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The Commission orders: The requests for rehearing are denied.
By the Commission.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-10607 Filed 4-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P
