[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 99 (Thursday, May 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 30951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10968]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[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

    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 two 
three percent (PPI-FG + 1.23). The Commission determined in an Order 
Establishing Index Level,\1\ issued December 17, 2015, that PPI-FG + 
1.23 is the appropriate oil pricing index factor for pipelines to use 
for the five-year period commencing July 1, 2016.
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    \1\ 153 FERC 61,312, at P 52 (2015).
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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 204.1 for 
2018 and 205.7 for 2019.\2\ Thus, the percent change (expressed as a 
decimal) in the annual average PPI-FG from 2018 to 2019, plus 1.23 
percent, is positive 0.020139.\3\ Oil pipelines must multiply their 
July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, index ceiling levels by positive 
1.020139 \4\ to compute their index ceiling levels for July 1, 2020, 
through June 30, 2021, in accordance with 18 CFR 342.3(d). For guidance 
in calculating the ceiling levels for each 12-month period beginning 
January 1, l995,\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 including headline FD-ID indexes (Producer Price Index--PPI). 
At the next screen, under the heading PPI Commodity Data, select the 
box, Finished goods--WPUFD49207, then scroll to the bottom of this 
screen and click on Retrieve data.
    \3\ [205.7-204.1]/204.1 = .007839 + 0.0123 = +0.020139.
    \4\ 1 + 0.020139 = 1.020139.
    \5\ For a listing of all prior multipliers issued by the 
Commission, see the Commission's website, 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) using 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. At this time, the 
Commission has suspended access to the Commission's Public Reference 
Room due to the proclamation declaring a National Emergency concerning 
the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) issued by the President on 
March 13, 2020.
    User assistance is available for eLibrary and other aspects of 
FERC's website during normal business hours. For assistance, please 
contact the Commission's Online Support at 1-866-208-3676 (toll free) 
or 202-502-6652 (email 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].

    Dated: May 15, 2020.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-10968 Filed 5-20-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P