Three of the four leading natural gas trade associations onFriday were said to be either definitely on board or “favorablyinclined” to jointly ask FERC for a second extension of thedeadline for industry comments on the major notice of proposedrulemaking (NOPR) and notice of inquiry (NOI) issued in July[RM98-10, RM98-12]. A source indicated there was a “50-50 chance”the lone association holdout would sign on too. The joint request,which reportedly is being spear-headed by the Interstate NaturalGas Association of America (INGAA), would seek a six-monthextension of the current Jan. 22nd deadline, and could be filed atthe Commission as early as this week. A possible reason for themove is that one of the groups is trying to buy time to broker acompromise with the other three associations on a voluntary auctionproposal, the source said. This would make pipeline participationin capacity auctioning optional, as opposed to the mandatory routethat FERC seems to favor.
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AGA, INGAA Endorse Negotiated Proposal
A major LDC group and a pipeline group urged FERC yesterday tofavorably consider a proposal that would clear the way for gaspipelines and their customers to negotiate the heretofore untouchedarea of terms and conditions of service. The Commission has limitedits approval so far tonegotiation of rates.
May 5, 1998