Oppose

While producers and end users were marshalling their argumentsagainst plans by TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. for long-term ratedesign changes to adapt to the budding era of competition, thepipeline opened up a second front, calling for an 11% hike in itscurrent rates effective Jan. 1.

Both sides of the Canadian natural gas market have lined upsolidly against the first attempt by the pipeline establishment toadapt to the budding era of competition in delivery services northof the border with the United States.

A major gas pipeline group has asked the federal government toreject a producer petition that seeks to have tariffs imposed oncrude oil imports from four foreign countries accused of illegaldumping.

Maine and New Hampshire regulators have asked FERC to deferconsideration of a petition for declaratory order that would allowGranite State Gas Transmission to recover millions of dollars inpreliminary development costs for a controversial liquefied naturalgas (LNG) facility in Wells, ME, that’s not even likely to bebuilt.

National Fuel Gas used a hearing in the Pennsylvania senateTuesday to voice its opposition to the state’s gas deregulationbill. It is the only LDC to oppose the bill so far.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has succeeded incontriving an order (No. 587-G) that the natural gas industryalmost universally opposes, which is not that rare. What is rare,however, is the unanimity among pipelines, distributors, producersand end users on what is wrong with the Commission’s mandate thatall pipeline transactions be conducted over the Internet byelectronic data interchange (EDI) by June 1, 1999.