The first of a series of industry meetings aimed at addressingthe controversial issues in the mega-notice of proposed rulemaking(NOPR) and notice of inquiry (NOI) gets underway in Houston today.Many are hoping the sessions will provide the way for the bickeringsegments of the gas industry to achieve common ground on some ofthe top issues posed by FERC.

The closed door negotiations will be a “dynamic process” with”interactive dialogue” that hopefully will result in, if nothingelse, the filing of “richer” industry comments on both initiativesin April, said Nicholas J. Bush, president of the Natural GasSupply Association (NGSA).

“…[T]here have been differences of opinion among thesegments in the industry about the need for further [regulatory]changes, about the scope of those further changes, the breadth ofthose changes [and] the nature of those changes.” He believes themeetings will provide the forum for individual gas segments to “atleast better understand [and possibly accommodate] each other’sposition.”

But Bush doesn’t realistically expect industry to reachuniformity on all the key issues. “I think that it [would] be naivefor somebody to believe that this would result in four, five or sixor seven filings that [are] homogenous,” he told reporters at apress briefing Tuesday in Washington D.C. At best, the industryhopes the meetings will help the various gas segments find someagreement in certain key areas.

Industry representatives plan to meet seven times in Houston (onthe first and third Wednesday of each month) until April 22, whencomments are due at FERC. The producers, pipelines and distributorseach will have six representatives attending, while the AmericanPublic Gas Association, the Process Gas Consumers Group and EdisonElectric Institute each will have one representative. Also, therewill be antitrust counsel in attendance, and the major gas tradegroups will be represented to take notes for their fullmemberships. Commission staff members have not been invited. “Idon’t think it’s a good idea. That might put a different tone” onthe proceedings, Bush said. This is a “share conversation among theindustry” without it having to “weigh every word.”

Industry hasn’t yet determined the “slate of issues” that willbe discussed at the sessions, he told reporters. But it’s believedthe auctioning of short-term capacity and negotiated terms andconditions will, primarily because of their controversial nature,top the agenda. The meetings were the brainchild of RobbiLuxbacher, vice president of natural gas for Exxon U.S.A., and StanHorton, who heads up the gas pipeline group at Enron Corp.

Besides the seven sessions, “I think there will be a lot ofdiscussion outside of the meetings” between companies, Budziknoted. He anticipates a “continuous chatter” on the NOPR and NOIissues over the next couple of months.

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