[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 2, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 35798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-17323]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. GP97-5-000]
Mesa Operating Company; Notice of Petition for Adjustment
June 26, 1997.
Take notice that on June 24, 1997, Mesa Operating Company, 5205 N.
O'Connor Blvd., Suite 1400, Irving, Texas 75039 (Mesa), filed a
petition for adjustment under Section 502c of the Natural Gas Policy
Act of 1978 (NGPA) and Rules 1101-1107 of the Commission's Rules of
Practice and Procedure, requesting an adjustment to its potential
liability to pay refunds and interest that Mesa may be directed to make
with respect to gas production between October 4, 1983 and June 28,
1988, owing to Mesa's collection of Kansas ad valorem tax
reimbursements from gas purchasers, reimbursements that have since been
deemed to be in excess of the NGPA's applicable maximum lawful gas
prices, all as more fully set forth in the subject petition, which is
on file with the Commission and available for public inspection.
This matter evolved out of the Commission's 1974 decision in
Opinion No. 699-D, to permit gas producers to recover Kansas ad valorem
tax reimbursements from their gas purchasers, the Commission's
subsequent decision to allow gas producers to collect Kansas ad valorem
tax reimbursements under Section 110 of the NGPA, and Northern Natural
Gas Company's 1983 challenge to such collections,\1\ culminating in the
decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit, in Public Service Company of Colorado v. FERC, 91
F.3d 1478 (D.C. Cir. 1996), that refunds should be paid with respect to
Kansas ad valorem tax reimbursements on production between October 4,
1983 and June 28, 1988, and the Supreme Court's denial of cross-
petitions for certiorari, filed in connection with the D.C. Circuit's
decision in Public Service Company of Colorado v. FERC.
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\1\ See 48 FR 45287 (October 4, 1983).
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Mesa requests a waiver of its obligation to repay: (1) Refunds on
Kansas ad valorem taxes for the period from October 1983 to June 1988,
that are (a) attributable to nonrecoverable royalties, (b) attributable
to non-recoupable Kansas property taxes (based in part on the prior
reimbursability of the Kansas ad valorem taxes, and (c) attributable to
amounts for which the pipeline cannot locate the prior customer who
paid the tax reimbursements; and (2) interest from 1983 to the present,
for Kansas ad valorem taxes collected during the October 1983 to June
1988 period. Mesa asserts that the Commission has broad discretion in
structuring remedies and in determining whether refunds and/or interest
are appropriate where excess payments were made, and that the
Commission has the authority to grant relief from refund principal and
interest. Mesa also asserts for various reasons, that the Commission
should grant at least a limited waiver of refund principal, plus a
total waiver of the interest otherwise due on refunds, for the 1983 to
1988 period. Mesa further asserts that the Commission should grant
refund relief where the royalty portion of the refunds due is
unrecoverable or de minimus, or where the original customers that paid
the ad valorem tax reimbursements cannot be located.
Any person desiring to participate in this proceeding must file a
motion to intervene in accordance with Sections 385.211 and 385.214 of
the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures. All motions must be
filed with the Secretary of the Commission by July 7, 1997.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-17323 Filed 7-1-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M
