[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 2, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 35798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-17323]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. GP97-5-000]


Mesa Operating Company; Notice of Petition for Adjustment

June 26, 1997.
    Take notice that on June 24, 1997, Mesa Operating Company, 5205 N. 
O'Connor Blvd., Suite 1400, Irving, Texas 75039 (Mesa), filed a 
petition for adjustment under Section 502c of the Natural Gas Policy 
Act of 1978 (NGPA) and Rules 1101-1107 of the Commission's Rules of 
Practice and Procedure, requesting an adjustment to its potential 
liability to pay refunds and interest that Mesa may be directed to make 
with respect to gas production between October 4, 1983 and June 28, 
1988, owing to Mesa's collection of Kansas ad valorem tax 
reimbursements from gas purchasers, reimbursements that have since been 
deemed to be in excess of the NGPA's applicable maximum lawful gas 
prices, all as more fully set forth in the subject petition, which is 
on file with the Commission and available for public inspection.
    This matter evolved out of the Commission's 1974 decision in 
Opinion No. 699-D, to permit gas producers to recover Kansas ad valorem 
tax reimbursements from their gas purchasers, the Commission's 
subsequent decision to allow gas producers to collect Kansas ad valorem 
tax reimbursements under Section 110 of the NGPA, and Northern Natural 
Gas Company's 1983 challenge to such collections,\1\ culminating in the 
decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit, in Public Service Company of Colorado v. FERC, 91 
F.3d 1478 (D.C. Cir. 1996), that refunds should be paid with respect to 
Kansas ad valorem tax reimbursements on production between October 4, 
1983 and June 28, 1988, and the Supreme Court's denial of cross-
petitions for certiorari, filed in connection with the D.C. Circuit's 
decision in Public Service Company of Colorado v. FERC.
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    \1\ See 48 FR 45287 (October 4, 1983).
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    Mesa requests a waiver of its obligation to repay: (1) Refunds on 
Kansas ad valorem taxes for the period from October 1983 to June 1988, 
that are (a) attributable to nonrecoverable royalties, (b) attributable 
to non-recoupable Kansas property taxes (based in part on the prior 
reimbursability of the Kansas ad valorem taxes, and (c) attributable to 
amounts for which the pipeline cannot locate the prior customer who 
paid the tax reimbursements; and (2) interest from 1983 to the present, 
for Kansas ad valorem taxes collected during the October 1983 to June 
1988 period. Mesa asserts that the Commission has broad discretion in 
structuring remedies and in determining whether refunds and/or interest 
are appropriate where excess payments were made, and that the 
Commission has the authority to grant relief from refund principal and 
interest. Mesa also asserts for various reasons, that the Commission 
should grant at least a limited waiver of refund principal, plus a 
total waiver of the interest otherwise due on refunds, for the 1983 to 
1988 period. Mesa further asserts that the Commission should grant 
refund relief where the royalty portion of the refunds due is 
unrecoverable or de minimus, or where the original customers that paid 
the ad valorem tax reimbursements cannot be located.
    Any person desiring to participate in this proceeding must file a 
motion to intervene in accordance with Sections 385.211 and 385.214 of 
the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedures. All motions must be 
filed with the Secretary of the Commission by July 7, 1997.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-17323 Filed 7-1-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M