Upheld

FERC last week gave El Paso Natural Gas high marks for carryingout firm capacity re-assignments in accordance with a plan that itapproved for the pipeline’s system last October. At the same time,it shot down all of the protests and rehearing requests lodged bySouthern California Gas (SoCal).

FERC upheld its March decision on remand in which it disclaimedjurisdiction over a four-mile, six-inch line of KN WattenbergTransmission LLC that serves two industrial customers in FortMorgan, CO. The Commission asserted jurisdiction over the lateralin a November 1997 ruling, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for theTenth Circuit remanded the decision two years later. Last March,FERC vacated its controversial decision upon acknowledging that theline met the qualifications for a Hinshaw exemption and, therefore,was subject to regulation by the Colorado Public UtilitiesCommission.

FERC yesterday upheld its March decision on remand in which itdisclaimed jurisdiction over a four-mile, six-inch line of KNWattenberg Transmission LLC that serves two industrial customers inFort Morgan, CO. The Commission asserted jurisdiction over thelateral in a November 1997 ruling, but the U.S. Court of Appealsfor the Tenth Circuit remanded the decision two years later. LastMarch, FERC vacated its controversial decision upon acknowledgingthat the line met the qualifications for a Hinshaw exemption and,therefore, was subject to regulation by the Colorado PublicUtilities Commission.

FERC last week held firm to its July order in which it awarded amuch-sought-after certificate to the controversial IndependencePipeline, rejecting numerous requests to reconsider whether theproject’s precedent agreements were binding and its market needjustified. Federal regulators also gave the go-ahead for Phase IIof ANR Pipeline’s Wisconsin expansion, a Reliant Energy GasTransmission looping expansion in Arkansas, and accorded apreliminary determination to Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line for itsproposed Sundance expansion in the Southeast.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the mostsignificant aspects of FERC Orders 888 and 889 in a ruling releasedon Friday. “Finding few defects in the orders, we uphold them innearly all respects,” the court stated in its decision(Transmission Access Policy Study Group, et al. v. FERC No.97-1715).

FERC last week reaffirmed “almost without exception” all of the”basic policy calls” that it made in its landmark Order 2000, whichseeks to have regional transmission organizations (RTOs) up andrunning in every region of the nation by the end of 2001.

FERC has upheld an order approving Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s newtransportation service agreements with six shippers, casting asideproducer arguments that the contracts included negotiated terms andconditions and raised right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) issues.

FERC last week upheld an order approving Tennessee GasPipeline’s new transportation service agreements with six shippers,casting aside producer arguments that the contracts includednegotiated terms and conditions and raised right-of-first-refusal(ROFR) issues.

FERC last week upheld an administrative law judge’s partialinitial decision denying KN Interstate Gas’s (KNI) request to rollin the costs associated with the construction of its Pony ExpressLine and Kansas City Line.