Protests

Amid a flurry of protests from existing storage customers, FERClast week accepted and suspended Natural Gas Pipeline Co. ofAmerica’s tariff proposal to provide a new storage service forpower generation customers, but it made it subject to refund,conditions and the outcome of a technical conference.

U.S. and Canadian shippers on Northern Border Pipeline havelobbed a barrage of protests at the pipeline’s latest request toroll-in the costs of its Project 2000 extension, with some going asfar as to question the need for the Illinois-to-Indiana extension.

U.S. and Canadian shippers on Northern Border Pipeline havelobbed a barrage of protests at the pipeline’s latest request toroll-in the costs of its Project 2000 extension, with some going asfar as to question the need for the Illinois-to-Indiana extension.

Koch Gateway Pipeline’s proposal to create an interactiveauction for shippers to bid on capacity in expiring firm storagecontracts has come up against some protest at the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission.

Existing shippers on Transcontinental Gas Pipeline haveexpressed widespread opposition to the pipeline’s request to rollin the costs associated with its SouthCoast expansion project inGeorgia and Alabama.

A major pipeline group fired off an angry letter Friday askingthe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider a “policydecision” that would force pipelines to shell out at least $280million – money that would have to be diverted from expansionprojects – for “unproven” technology to meet a 90%-reduction targetfor nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

A last-minute protest by Scana Energy Marketing to a requestedwaiver by Atlanta Gas Light to allow assignment of some of itsupstream pipeline capacity as part of the Georgia unbundling planmay have been a factor in derailing FERC action last week.

“Gas Producers cannot justify the expense of implementing[electronic data interchange] on all pipelines because ofinsufficient volumes on any particular pipeline,” the Natural GasSupply Association said last week in opposing FERC’s mandate foracross the board implementation of EDI by June 1, 1999.

Many of the “incendiary” allegations arising from Natural GasClearinghouse’s (NGC) acquisition of 1.3 Bcf/d of firmtransportation capacity from El Paso Natural Gas – that thecontracted amount far exceeded NGC’s market needs, that NGC hasacquired monopoly control over pipeline capacity into California,that California border prices have shot up as a result, and thatthe contracts contain a “covenant” whereby NGC and El Paso haveagreed not to compete – have generated a lot of smoke, but no realfire, the Houston-based gas marketer says.