[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 29526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12622]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[131 FERC ] 61,161; Docket No. RM93-11-000]


Revisions to Oil Pipeline Regulations Pursuant to the Energy 
Policy Act of 1992; Notice of Annual Change in the Producer Price Index 
for Finished Goods

May 19, 2010.
    The Commission's regulations include a methodology for oil 
pipelines to change their rates through use of an index system that 
establishes ceiling levels for such rates. The Commission bases the 
index system, found at 18 CFR 342.3, on the annual change in the 
Producer Price Index for Finished Goods (PPI-FG), plus one point three 
percent (PPI+1.3). The Commission determined in an ``Order Establishing 
Index For Oil Price Change Ceiling Levels'' issued March 21, 2006, that 
PPI+1.3 is the appropriate oil pricing index factor for pipelines to 
use.\1\
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    \1\ 114 FERC ] 61,293 at P 2 (2006).
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    The regulations provide that the Commission will publish annually, 
an index figure reflecting the final change in the PPI-FG, after the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the final PPI-FG in May of each 
calendar year. The annual average PPI-FG index figures were 177.1 for 
2008 and 172.5 for 2009.\2\ Thus, the percent change (expressed as a 
decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG from 2008 to 2009, plus 1.3 
percent, is negative 0.012974.\3\ Oil pipelines must multiply their 
July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010, index ceiling levels by positive 
0.987026 \4\ to compute their index ceiling levels for July 1, 2010, 
through June 30, 2011, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d). For guidance 
in calculating the ceiling levels for each 12 month period beginning 
January 1, 1995,\5\ see Explorer Pipeline Company, 71 FERC 61,416 at 
n.6 (1995).
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    \2\ Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes the final figure 
in mid-May of each year. This figure is publicly available from the 
Division of Industrial Prices and Price Indexes of the BLS, at (202) 
691-7705, and in print in August in Table 1 of the annual data 
supplement to the BLS publication Producer Price Indexes via the 
Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ppi/home.htm. To obtain the BLS data, 
scroll down to ``PPI Databases'' and click on ``Top Picks'' of the 
Commodity Data (Producer Price Index--PPI). At the next screen, 
under the heading ``Producer Price Index/PPI Commodity Data,'' 
select the first box, ``Finished goods--WPUSOP3000,'' then scroll 
all the way to the bottom of this screen and click on Retrieve data.
    \3\ [172.5-177.1]/177.1 = (-0.025974) + .013 = (-0.012974)
    \4\ 1 + (-0.012974) = 0.987026
    \5\ For a listing of all prior multipliers issued by the 
Commission, see the Commission's Web site, http://www.ferc.gov/industries/oil/gen-info/pipeline-index.asp.
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    In addition to publishing the full text of this Notice in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print this Notice via the Internet through 
FERC's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC's Public Reference 
Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time) at 
888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, Washington DC 20426. The full text of 
this Notice is available on FERC's Home Page at the eLibrary link. To 
access this document in eLibrary, type the docket number excluding the 
last three digits of this document in the docket number field and 
follow other directions on the search page.
    User assistance is available for eLibrary and other aspects of 
FERC's Web site during normal business hours. For assistance, please 
contact the Commission's Online Support at 1-866-208-3676 (toll free) 
or 202-502-6652 (e-mail at [email protected]), or the Public 
Reference Room at (202) 502-8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-Mail the Public 
Reference Room at [email protected].

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-12622 Filed 5-25-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P