Nick Snow
OGJ Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, May 5 -- Calling it a small, but important, adjustment, the Natural Gas Supply Association asked the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to slightly change gas pipeline flow-posting requirements.
In an Apr. 30 filing, NGSA asked FERC to consider adopting a "sole-feed" exclusion. This would exempt major noninterstate gas pipelines from reporting if the pipeline has no, or very small volume endusers with total receipts of less than 15,000 million BTUs/day, or if the pipeline feeds into another major pipeline, NGSA said.
Taking this step would reduce the burden and cost of compliance for small-volume pipelines while continuing to provide clear information to regulators and the public, the trade association added.
NGSA said FERC issued in November Order No. 720, which requires certain noninterstate and interstate gas lines to post design capacity and daily scheduled gas flow information. The rule also imposed posting requirements on interstate gas pipelines that provide no-notice service.
Jenny Fordham, NGSA's energy markets and government affairs director, said the association believes FERC got the new reporting process "about 98% right" when it changed the pipeline reporting requirements last year.
"Our 'sole-feed' proposal would further simply the process and capture the same data, just a few miles further downstream. A sole-feed exclusion is consistent with the commission's desire to establish rules that will increase transparency without additional cost," she said.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
