FERC Wednesday dismissed a complaint filed by the National Association of Gas Consumers (NAGC) against “all sellers of natural gas in the United States of America in interstate commerce,” which asked FERC to set a benchmark price for natural gas of $2.74/MMBtu and allow any sales above that level to be subject to complaints and refunds as unjust and unreasonable.

The Commission noted that pursuant to the Wellhead Decontrol Act, the Commission no longer regulates prices at the wellhead. “The Commission’s jurisdiction is limited only to sales for resale of domestically produced gas by interstate and intrastate pipelines, local distribution companies, and affiliates of any of the foregoing. Thus, as a practical matter, the Commission cannot impose effective limits on natural gas prices.”

The complaint was filed in February 2001 by the NAGC, which includes a number of state joint action agencies, such as the Kansas Municipal Utilities, Kansas Municipal Gas Agency, the Intermountain Gas Agency, and the Municipal Gas Commission of Missouri (see Daily GPI, Feb. 5, 2001). Several intervenors, including the American Public Gas Association and the Pennsylvania Office of Consumers Advocate, supported NAGC’s call for an investigation of natural gas prices.

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