[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 3 (Thursday, January 5, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1718-1720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-264]



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18 CFR Part 284
[Docket No. RM93-4-006; Order No. 563-D]

Standards for Electronic Bulletin Boards Required Under Part 284 
Of The Commission's Regulations
Issued December 29, 1994.
AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final rule; Order modifying capacity release data sets.

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SUMMARY: In response to a proposed modification submitted by the 
Electronic Bulletin Board Working Group, the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (Commission) is issuing an order making changes to the 
capacity release data sets. The Commission's order revises its 
``Standardized Data [[Page 1719]] Sets and Communication Protocols,'' 
available at the Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance 
Branch, to add two fields in the Award Data Set for reporting the 
maximum natural gas pipeline tariff rate related to released capacity. 
With the electronic data on maximum rates, the Commission can use 
computers to automatically evaluate the relationship between release 
and maximum rates.

DATES: New fields must be implemented by February 1, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol 
Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael Goldenberg, Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE., Washington, DC 
20426, (202) 208-2294
Marvin Rosenberg, Office of Economic Policy, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 
208-1283
Brooks Carter, Office of Pipeline and Producer Regulation, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, 825 North Capitol Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 208-0292

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In addition to publishing the full text of 
this document in the Federal Register, the Commission also provides all 
interested persons an opportunity to inspect or copy the contents of 
this document during normal business hours in room 3104, 941 North 
Capitol Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
    The Commission Issuance Posting System (CIPS), an electronic 
bulletin board service, provides access to the texts of formal 
documents issued by the Commission. CIPS is available at no charge to 
the user and may be accessed using a personal computer with a modem by 
dialing (202) 208-1397. To access CIPS, set your communications 
software to 19200, 14400, 12000, 9600, 7200, 4800, 2400, 1200 or 
300bps, full duplex, no parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit. The full 
text of this document will be available on CIPS for 60 days from the 
date of issuance in ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 format. After 60 days the 
document will be archived, but still accessible. The complete text on 
diskette in WordPerfect format may also be purchased from the 
Commission's copy contractor, La Dorn Systems Corporation, also located 
in room 3104, 941 North Capitol Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

    Before Commissioners: Elizabeth Anne Moler, Chair; Vicky A. 
Bailey, James J. Hoecker, William L. Massey, and Donald F. Santa, 
Jr.
    Standards For Electronic Bulletin Boards Required Under Part 284 
Of The Commission's Regulations; Docket No. RM93-4-006.

Order No. 563-D; Order Modifying Capacity Release Data Sets

Issued December 29, 1994.
    On November 4, 1994, the Electronic Bulletin Board (EBB) Working 
Group submitted a proposed modification of the capacity release data 
sets adopted by the Commission in Order No. 563.\1\ The approved data 
sets are included in a document entitled ``Standardized Data Sets and 
Communication Protocols,'' available at the Commission's Public 
Reference and Files Maintenance Branch.

    \1\Standards For Electronic Bulletin Boards Required Under Part 
284 of the Commission's Regulations, Order No. 563, 59 FR 516 (Jan. 
5, 1994), III FERC Stats. & Regs. Preambles  30,988 (Dec. 23, 
1993), order on reh'g, Order No. 563-A, 59 FR 23624 (May 6, 1994), 
III FERC Stats. & Regs. Preambles  30,994 (May 2, 1994), reh'g 
denied, Order No. 563-B, 68 FERC  61,002 (1994).
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    The Working Group states that to accommodate a suggestion from 
Commission staff at the August 11, 1994 conference, it is proposing to 
add fields in the Award Data Set for reporting the maximum tariff rate 
for service relating to capacity posted for release at the time the 
offer to release is made. The proposed fields would report the maximum 
reservation rate and maximum volumetric rate for released capacity. The 
Working Group proposes to make these fields optional, because pipelines 
tariffs do not currently require posting of maximum rate.\2\ The filing 
also contains proposed revisions to the Electronic Data Interchange 
(EDI) implementation guide relating to this change.

    \2\Optional means the pipeline must include the field only if 
the pipeline chooses to do so or its tariff requires it to include 
the information.
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    Pursuant to the process adopted by the Commission to make 
modifications to the data sets,\3\ public notice of the filing was 
issued on November 17, 1994, with comments due by November 29, 1994. 
Panhandle Eastern Pipelines\4\ filed a comment supporting the data sets 
as submitted. They request implementation not be required earlier than 
February 1, 1995, because during December and January, many pipelines' 
computer staffs are occupied with the tasks of beta-testing EDI 
confirmation and nomination data sets and finalizing transaction point 
information for the PI Grid Common Code Data Base.

    \3\Order No. 563-A, III FERC Stats. & Regs. Preambles at 31,036-
37.
    \4\Algonquin Gas Transmission Company, Panhandle Eastern Pipe 
Line Company, Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation, and Trunkline 
Gas Company.
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    The National Registry of Capacity Rights, Inc. (Registry) supports 
the Working Group filing, but contends that the maximum rate fields be 
made mandatory to ensure that the data is provided by all pipelines. 
The Registry states that due to the operating principle within the 
Working Group of requiring 100% consensus in support of a proposed 
change, consensus could not be reached for requiring that the fields be 
mandatory. The Registry further states that, based on its experience 
with EDI data, retention of optional status for these fields will mean 
that the maximum rate information will not be included in many 
instances. The Registry maintains that changing to mandatory status 
would require no substantive change in the data sets or implementation 
guide; the only change would be redesignate the fields as mandatory.
    The Commission will accept the additional fields, but will require 
the fields to be mandatory, so that all pipelines will be required to 
include them. Having electronically transmitted data on the maximum 
rate for releases on all pipelines in the Award Data Set is important 
for the Commission, as well as the other members of the gas industry, 
to be able to efficiently evaluate the capacity release market by 
determining the extent to which capacity releases are discounted from 
maximum rates. With the electronic data on maximum rates, the 
Commission can use computers to automatically evaluate the relationship 
between release and maximum rates. Without electronic data, Commission 
staff would have to determine the maximum release rate for each release 
from the pipelines' individual tariffs and manually enter that 
information in its computer data base. Given the large number of 
capacity release offers and the difficulty in ascertaining the maximum 
rate that will apply to each release, manual entry would prove to be 
very tedious and time consuming.\5\

    \5\There are number of factors that make computation of maximum 
rates for specific releases difficult. For example, many pipelines 
have a significant number of rate zones, with the maximum rate 
depending on the number of zones the release crosses. In addition, 
surcharges and other requirements in pipeline tariffs may affect the 
maximum rate. Maximum rates also will change each time a pipeline 
makes a tariff filing to revise its rates.
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    For those pipelines that do not already include maximum rate 
information on their EBBs, the burden of adding this data should not be 
significant. All pipelines must know (and in many cases will already 
have [[Page 1720]] computerized) the maximum rate information so that 
they can verify that bids for release packages do not exceed the 
maximum rate.
    Pipelines will be required to implement the new fields by February 
1, 1995. The ``Standardized Data Sets and Communication Protocols'' 
will be modified to include the new fields and will be made available 
at the Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch.

The Commission Orders

    (A) The Commission will accept the proposed fields for maximum 
reservation rate and maximum volumetric rate and the related EDI 
implementation guide changes as proposed in the November 4, 1994 filing 
with the modification that the maximum rate fields will be mandatory.
    (B) Pipelines must implement these new fields by February 1, 1995.

    By the Commission.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-264 Filed 1-4-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P